Sunday, June 20, 2010

Incomplete

This post is incomplete. It is politically incorrect, highly opinionated and i assume a high ground throughout. However, this page has always expressed opinions which are objective unlike what you are about to read. I am, therefore, leaving this post incomplete. The conclusion is what you take out of it. If you suspect that it is actually complete, no it isn't.


The following is a graphical representation of the results of a poll conducted by India Today among Chennaiites.


Of course, I made that up.But i'm trying to establish something graphically.

I have always hated window shopping. I think it is plain stupid to go to a mall, stare into glass enclosures and imagine owning things which you won't buy in your lifetime. You don't even have to take a look at something to buy it these days, if that is the reason why people stare.You can google information about absolutely anything. (I found info about a used toothbrush on eBay) I do understand that the place is air-conditioned, which is great in a city like Chennai but sitting on the stairs for hours and clicking pictures on a VGA camera phone in the dark is taking it too far. I have and always will, scorn them.

This outburst, though, stems from a recent visit to a mall. I was there for business. By business, i mean serious business. My appointment was at 3:30 pm but i reached there by 1:30 pm. I had my lunch and found that i still had more than an hour to spare. I know for a fact that a lot of people hang out in malls and so figured that it won't be difficult to kill time. I roamed around but couldn't find anything remotely interesting or worth purchasing. I kept glancing at my watch as i walked aimlessly from one shop to the other. After about 10 minutes i gave up my attempt at being a mallrat.

I went inside a coffee shop and took a comfortable seat opposite to a television. By then it was 2:45 pm and i decided that i'll have a nice hot steaming cup of coffee before the appointment. The shop was, surprisingly, not empty. I was sitting there waiting for someone to come up to me and ask for an order. But nobody did. I looked around and saw a middle-aged man reading Sidney Sheldon. It was 2:45 pm on a Tuesday. Clearly, he either made a lot of money or nothing at all. Sitting directly across was a shabby obese guy. He mistook the couch and pillows for a bed. For a moment i thought he was fast asleep. But then, i noticed that his eyes were wide open and he was gazing unblinkingly towards a group of people across the room. There were about five girls, all of them in their early twenties, sitting on the couch with nothing on their table. They were all dressed up for a party and were very loud. I can't stress loud enough because i was sitting on the opposite side of the room and i heard that a certain Khushi's boyfriend Abhishek broke up with her! I looked around but couldn't find a single waiter. Meanwhile, the man in front of me was getting too 'comfortable' in his 'bed'. It was 3:00 in the afternoon. There was a man in a coffee shop getting 'comfortable' !! (Thankfully, he didn't get too comfortable). I began to wonder what these people did for a living.Rather, i hoped these people had something to do which paid them.

I looked around anxiously and finally found a waiter. He walked up to me with a menu card and almost flung it on my table. I picked it up and looked through the menu. I noticed that he was rather nonchalant and a tad arrogant.

I ordered a cappuccino and a pastry. The look on his face changed. He hurried across the room and brought me my order with great haste. As i was sipping my coffee, i kept thinking about the look the waiter gave me. I felt rather insulted at that moment. I felt that i should have walked out the very moment I was treated with such disrespect. It is inexcusable to treat a customer that way. But when i took a close look at all the people in the room i realized what was going through his head. For most part of the day, he offers menu cards to mallrats who hang out in the coffee shop. I noticed the forementioned Khushi's gal pals saying 'No' to the menu card twice before i finished my cup. The waiter didn't even bother looking at Jabba. I figured out what the waiter was thinking. He mistook me for a mallrat! I ended up feeling even more disgusted! I walked up to the counter, paid the exact bill amount and left the place vowing never to visit a coffee shop ever again.