Extreme Shopping

From one extreme to the other, anyway. 

My wife and I recently returned to Belgium from a less-than-relaxing trip to the United States. We had a lot catching up to do. You know, certain food to eat, lots of people to see and of course, lots of things to buy. It's a good thing that American shop employees are so eager to help out a patron. So eager, in fact, that we were frequently forced to flee before buying a thing. We just couldn't take it.

I assume store managers told their employees that they really need to push for sales in these difficult times, but do they know how annoying they are? When you walk into a store, you're immediately bombarded with "Hi, how are you doing today? Can I help you find something? Be sure to have a look at our sales rack in the back on the left. Did you know about our socks? They're made by alpaca farming dwarves in Nepal and they're guaranteed for life. The socks, not the dwarves. We have a book all about it at the counter. Just ask for one when you check out. All you have to do is fill out a credit card application. Those are great shoes. Where did you get them? Belgium? Is that somewhere in Germany? I bet you can see the dwarves from there. Can I get your zip code?..."

For the other extreme, there's Belgium, where nobody really wants your money. 

Since I forgot my phone charger in the U.S. (oops), I stopped into the little local electronics shop to see if I could find a replacement. There were two employees there: one on the phone, one helping the only customer (by apparently teaching him how to use his iPhone) . Neither of them acknowledged my entrance. I looked at phones to determine that Sony still uses the same connector for at least some of their new phones. Then I investigated the shelf to see if there was a replacement available. There wasn't. That's not completely surprising because this is a small store with minimal inventory. They'd probably have to order it. So, speak to an employee, I must. I waited. I tried making eye contact. I looked annoyed. I left the store. I should mention that I'm not so arrogant that I expected the employees to drop everything else to help me, but an "I'll be right with you" or "I'll be a while - can you come back in ten minutes?" would go a long way. 

If only we could get American and Belgian shopkeepers to combine their methods, I'd be a lot poorer. I could keep ranting, but I need some socks...