Are You Being Served?

Beijing

I've been using my last day here to blow all my Chinese cash and stock up with stuff I'm going to need in the weeks ahead. Shopping can be a baffling experience. I was wandering around a big sports shop earlier trying to buy some socks. Eventually I found some, although whether they get anywhere near to fitting me given the stature of most of the locals is another matter. I was looking for the place to pay without much success when a woman ran up and grabbed me by the shoulder. She shouted something in Chinese, wrote something on a form that she then gave to me, took the socks and pointed to a woman behind a desk. I went over to the desk, waited around politely for the woman to look vaguely in my direction, then handed her the bit of paper and my money. She in turn handed me some other bits of coloured paper that I took back to the first woman who still had my socks. She tore some of the paper the second woman had given me and finally gave me the socks along with a receipt. Such a simple purchase dragged out to ten minutes for no apparent reason. Talk about Communist job creation. And I only wanted to buy some socks.

Having come all the way from London overland I'm finally giving in and taking a plane to LA tomorrow morning. And get this - it'll still be tomorrow morning when I arrive! How thoughtful of the world to stop just for me.