Monday, August 31, 2009

Random Ramadhan Musings

The other day, I was walking through the Bazaar in TTDI with my husband to get stuff for buka. As we walked pass, a lot of the vendors called out the names of miscellaneous food items and accompanied it with the word "panas", i.e: "mee goreng, panas lagi!"

I looked at my watch and the time was 6.00pm, which got me wondering why they were promoting it as such. It didn't make any sense, since buka was like an hour and a half away and the food items can't possibly still be "panas" by the time it comes around, right? And I wonder if other people get fooled by their attempt at marketing, which, to me, really sounds a bit rubbishy.

And then as we were queuing up for some putu piring, I noticed a tiny commotion at the stall next to the one we were at. The stall sold cups of iced sugar cane drinks at RM1.00 each. A chinese man walked up to the stall and asked for a cup, without ice. Promptly, the woman behind the table shook her head and said "taknak ais tak boleh. Semua ada ice je". A mini-argument ensued, and the woman's sister/mom/aunt/whoever joined in and yelled "No! Must have ice!", at which point, the man picks up an empty cup in front of him and gestures towards the jugs of sugar cane juice which were without ice.

The woman looked at the man who was manning the juicing machine, and said "Dia tak nak ais. Camne?"

He looked at the man, who was looking expectantly back at him and said "Cakap kat dia kalau tak nak ais, RM1.50".

The guy agreed to pay and that was that.

Bagus betul la. Bulan puasa pun nak berkira. I mean, logically, if someone who was fasting wanted to buy the drink, why would they buy it IN A CUP with ice in it? Dah tentulah by the time dah buka, the ice would have melted and air tu dah watered down.

And nampak sangat nak menipu kan, kalau ada ais seringgit je and takde ice sampai RM1.50? Ice is actually 50 cents nowadays, huh? And the cup is HALF-filled with ice? Brilliant.

Puasa ke tak ni kak/makcik/pakcik?

I dunnolah. Macam2 orang ada dalam dunia ni, and it disappoints me that during a month when you're supposed to be thankful for what you have and keep yourself from certain temptations, these type of people still exist, and thrive with their seringgit tebus with ice.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Wedding Entrance Dance Thingy

I absolutely love watching this video. I have no idea where they got the idea to be so creative, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that their friends are all sporting enough to do this for the lovely couple.

Now why didn't I think haritu eh? Of course, the makciks2 who tried to take over my wedding plans would probably have had heart attacks right then and there. Oh, and imagine my peeps dancing macam tu.. Yep, I've seen you in action, so takleh deny.

But then this video came out as a so-called reply to the wedding dance. They sort of mimic the wedding entrance for a mock divorce proceeding entrance. Siap letak lagi kat situ, "Jill and Kevin's last day". (FYI, the video I'm talking about is for Jill and Kevin's wedding)Oh, and apparently this is something that they think will happen "6 months later".

In my opinion? Not cool. Even if it's just a joke. It's like you're hoping that they'll split up. Tak baik lah. Keji gila. And who the hell goes to divorce proceedings in a friggin' wedding dress anyway? *Sigh* some people just tak boleh tengok orang lain senang.

p/s: I wanted to put the video here tapi it's taking too long so letak link je lah kat atas tu.

Monday, August 3, 2009

On the subject of professionalisme (or rather, a lack of it)

Firstly, refer to this post and this post.

Secondly, when a customer calls up in order to enquire about catering for a certain no of people, maybe you shouldn't tell him/her to "kindly maintain a number of A and above". Honestly, you should be going by his/her requirements, not demanding that he/she follow yours. You run the risk of having said customer delete your email and your phone number from his/her list of possibilities, just for being so douchy about it.

Thirdly, when a customer calls asking for quotations and you say that you will provide it the next day, kindly do so. Don't make him/her wait by the phone for your pathetic excuse of a price list. And when he/she calls and asks when the list is coming the next day, please tell the truth: that you are too lazy/lame/pathetic to actually provide one. That way, it's easy for him/her to move on to suppliers who are serious would really like the business and is not just there for shits and giggles.

Fourth, when someone comes to your store asking for something in particular, and you feel like you have a better model/make/version which is more expensive than what they asked for, fine. Tell them about it. But honestly, if he/she says "no", do him/her a favour and refrain from laying on the guilt trip or making her/him feel stupid. Maybe he/she just doesn't have the cash for it, or maybe he/she prefers using THAT particular one.

Fifth, don't gatal2 bukak mulut cakap "Rugilah kak, akak tak ambik ni" or "akak ni tak kisah ke pasal kesihatan/kecantikan/kekurusan", or whatsoever. If I say I'm not interested, I'm not interested even if you end up foaming at the mouth from trying to talk me into it and start having seizures from it. I'll probly just walk away anyway. Rimas

Sixth, if a customer comes in interested in buying something, please lah don't look her up and down just because she decided not to dress up that day and you think she tak mampu/buat muka masam while you tend to her requests to get a particular shoe size (yes, I'm talking about shoe sales assistants), ignore her completely while she stand there with a shoe for 5 minutes trying to get your attention OR breathe on her neck while she walks around. So yang mana satu nak? Ikut pun tak boleh, tak ikut pun marah. What I mean is, stand by from a safe distance when a customer walks in, so that you'll be alert when she needs help but won't suffocate her with your insecurity, clingy issues. Leave that for your bf/husband/gf/wife to deal with, tqvm.

Oh, and seventh, if a customer says "I'm gonna look around first, to see other options, I might come back later" tak payahla buat muka or roll your eyes at her. Sometimes, that's the very reason she doesn't come back walaupun kasut/baju whatever tu cantik macam permaisuri punya pun. I'd rather buy from some other place which knows the meaning of "having choices".

Last but not least, I end this post with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi "A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so"