I've just returned from overseas, not only with a delightful illness but with a selection of questions and queries floating around my mind. Questions and queries that concern the common traveller.
1. Why is it that as soon as the seatbelt light on the airplane is switched off after landing, everyone flings their seatbelts off and launches themselves out of their seats? They then stand in the aisle for at least 10 minutes before the doors are opened. I'm really thinking that there must be some sort of competition 'Let's see which psychotic can get in the aisle the quickest'. These lunatics just need to calm down.
2. Why do people insist on crowding around the baggage carousel like retarded seagulls? Sure, they might get their luggage before anyone else but if their bags aren't the first out (which 99% of the time they're not) they block the other 400 people from getting their bags. Is it really that difficult to stand back and then approach the carousel when your bags appear? Fuck.
3. Why, when in certain countries, do people feel the absolute need to bargain prices down? It happened while I was in China (and also when I've been to Bali and Fiji in the past), is it really necessary? Sure, sometimes you might find something really overpriced and in that instance bargaining is fine. I think it's ridiculous when people bargain prices down when they're probably saving $1.50. That $1.50 to us isn't any extreme amount of money but to the person who owns the market stall the money they just got ripped off is probably a lot to them.
If anyone has answers to these questions, please let me know x
3 comments:
Oh, no! I hope you're feeling better soon, Alex! And do we get pictures? :D
1. I completely agree; unless you're late for a transfer or there's an emergency of some kind, there's no real reason why you can't wait a few extra minutes to get off the plane quietly.
2. This is answered by the above question mostly. But also for some people who travel with nondescript generic luggage, it's quite easy for someone else to pick up the wrong bag. People also get panicky when they haven't seen their bags after long haul flights.
3. Because it's often part of their culture, and in most cases the shop keeper expects it. Lonely Planet Guides recommend it to their readers, as in most cases the price is marked up to begin with. $1.50 savings are pointless though, I agree. It's all about fair negotiation where both parties are satisfied.
: )
1. Yeah, it's stupid. No matter how quickly you get out of your seat, you won't be leaving the plane any sooner. I don't think people understand this.
2. This is why it pays to have a coloured suitcase with a ridiculously big floral scarf hanging off it.
3. In China I refused to bargain at all, such a waste of time. Obviously everything has a mark up but I wasn't being ripped off so I didn't care. I bought this floral sling bag for about $7 Australian without bargaining down. Anyone who bargains down stuff like that is an idiot.
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