"This Is The Part Where My Brain Cries A Little Inside"
Last week Mel & I went to see the Chinese dance troupe "Shen Yun." You might have seen them in various malls promoting their shows; it's how we heard about them in the first place. My mother had given us tickets for Christmas, and we were both interested about seeing the show. Surprisingly, the seats were great: we were almost dead centre in the mezzanine, about 3 rows back from the balcony railing, giving us a wide vantage point to see not only the full group(s), but also some of their finer footwork.
The performance was fantastic, with multitudes of dancers doing things with hankerchiefs and fans that certainly boggled my mind. Poor Mel's mind broke down when the opening number started, and after taking one look at their multi-tone green costumers all she could think of was: "Oh look! Earth benders."
Mind you, I could have down without the rather in-your-face message of "Falun Dafa is good and will save the world!" I must admit to being of two minds on the matter. Considering how notorious China is in its persecution of non-conformist ideas & religions, I can see why a troupe consisting primarily of Chinese citizens would want to bring attention to how they're treated for believing in Falun Dafa. On the other hand, there's a fine line between "bringing attention to an issue you feel passionate about" and "bludgeoning your audience to death with your message."
All in all, a good evening was spent with live entertainment. It's been a while since we've been able to get out like that. I would have loved to check out
Avenue Q when it was in Kitchener last November, but alas, the cash had to go to Christmas gifts for peoples. Then again we did manage to see
Sherlock Holmes over the weekend ("Is it poison, nanny?"), so it's all good!
In other news, I think I have discovered one of the stupidest customers on the planet. Considering the number of years and customers I've encountered, this says something. She was in her late teens at best, and, I kid you not, had a voice like a valley girl and an attitude that was half-condescending half-not-even-there. She strolled into the store, and the following conversation ensued:
Customer: "Do you sell wallets?"
[I point to the bunk directly next to her.]
Me: "Right there."
Customer. "Oh. What kind of wallets do you have?"
[I point to the bunk again.]
Me: "They're all in that bunk."
Customer: "Do you have any nice ones?"
Me: "That depends on your preferences. What are you looking for?"
Customer: "Oh. Do you know where Boathouse is? I hear they have good wallets."
[I point to the store almost directly across from us.]
Me: "It's right behind you."
Customer: "Well...how much is this wallet?"
[She picks up a wallet.]
Me: "It should be inside the wallet. Here, I can check for--"
However, the customer had decided to check the price for herself. Now I need to explain about this wallet: it's a tri-fold wallet, with the front locked into place with a large metal clasp. This clasp turns 90 degrees in order to lock the wallet shut. And it's a very large, very obvious clasp. Well...theoretically it was a large and obvious clasp. No so much for this customer, though; she spent a good 30 seconds vainly attempting to pry the wallet open, not once pausing to consider that maybe, just maybe, she should tinker with the big metal thing sticking out from the front of the wallet.
30 seconds of aggravation later, she she angrily tossed the wallet aside, mumbled something that might have been a good-bye and stormed out. I had to spend the next five minutes eating my fist in an attempt not to laugh as hard as I wanted to. I can only wonder at how she'll survive later on in life, when reality requires her to use that pretty little mind of hers. God help her if she gets a roll of American dimes...
...and our cat is licking the carpet. Um, I should probably look into this. In the meantime, here are Spiderman and his Emo-Friends! (You can find the original art link here:
http://worldfamousdesignjunkies.com/djunk/lost-and-found/attachment/emofriends/ )
Labels: customers are sometimes too stupid to even suck, emo friends, falun dafa is good and will save this tag from sucking, Shen Yun
posted by Phillip at 6:48 PM
