Korean Job Discussion Forums

[little mixed girl]

.....

[gang ah jee]

[SuperFly]

Ah - I was thinking about this the other day at the local Wall mart. I have this simple question about which model vacum cleaner bag I should be buying for the dirt devil model I own. Tried to get some help but everyone I asked was too busy or on break -

[harri2002]

this thread reminds me of the time i went to gyobo mungo when i visited seoul in 1999. i was looking for a short story i read in my middle school korean text book back in the 80's. there were about a dozen young women in uniforms in the store just watching my every move. when i asked them where i'd find this particular story every single one of them flatly said "no" and did not even at least try to help. i mean every single one of them, just like some programmed robots. they were not helpful at all. so why does gyobo hire so many "bodies" that don't know anything about customer service?

another one was when i was at the duty free shop at the airport (kimpo). sales women in uniforms again followed me around everywhere volunteering information i wasn't interested in. i actually looked at the girl in the eye and told her to leave me alone. i don't think i was rude because the sales girl was actually the one harassing me, the customer. koreans don't seem to realize that their blind persistence actually drives customers away, not make customers want to buy things.

the bottom line is that korean stores have the appearance and shape and form of customer service, e.g. sales girls in uniforms, bowing when you enter the store, but have no substance and heart, e.g. they don't seem to care about what customers want, instead they just want to make a sale.

[Bulsajo]

[Blue Flower]

When i get followed around, I start walking really slowly, and looking, and picking up lots of stuff, taking my time, so that whoever is following me, has to walk at this extremely slow pace, their presence is annoying me, so i try and annoy them. Childish I know, but it makes me feel better about the situation.

[SuperFly]

I heard that if you're the first one in the store on that particular day....and you don't buy something, anything...the owner will think his sales for the day are shot. Call it a superstition of the small businessman...or something.

[ulsanchris]

any of you ever been in a department store when it first opens in the morning? ONe morning while downtown i heard nature calling me. It was a few minutes before the hyundae opened so i went there waited for the doors to open and then walked in. All the sales staff were lined up along the walkways. And as I walked by all of them said some sort of greetingand bowed. I nearly felt like a king. I couldn't believe it. I nearly laughed out loud i found the whole thing so ridiculous. I couldn't help having a silly grin on my face. After that i decided to never go back to a department store when it first opens in the morning.

[captain kirk]

i've been in korea for a long time, but all the staff in stores still really weirds me out. my attitude kind of reminds me of my uncle who didn't like going to restaurants because he felt uncomfortable being served by a waiter/waitress. that's extreme, but...
when i see all those 'salespeople' 'stationed' at the corner of every so many meters, rectangle after rectangle i think how much stuff costs and how much of the price is jacked up to make this 'shopping experience', as if i am a 'prince' and these folks are here to make it 'easy' for me. ha! and how much of a tiresome bore it must be for them, not to mention standing for so long. of course some of them genuinely smile with genuine fake sincerity which has me convinced, but if i acknowledge them, their greetings, it's kind of exhausting. i just want to sluff around and get the goods, right? my staples, be they cans of beans, or sh*tloads of cherry coke, ramyon, soy milk. the grocery floor is staples pretty much anyway, right? if i pull out something, deplete the shelf, someone's there reloading. someone said recently korean society is all about 'aesthetics'. this was regarding how anyone a tad overweight, even if it's just 'husky health', robustness, is a 'dwea-gee' (pig). apparently there's this across the board 'aesthetics' thing going on. it 'looks good' to have lots of servants around(?).
all the salespeople, a rigid, 'polite' army, kind of reminds me of anda's talk of bubble economies and overextension. so much staff is like 'overpackaging'.
but it's korea, and 'apparently' 'the korean way', these days. i notice william beckerson at his site is beginning a chapter on 'korea, one of the most expensive countries in the world'. i find going to the grocery store is expensive. those hordes of butlers and maids get paid, so go figure!
if some guy, some clerk or store detetctive, seems to be on my tail i just look at him so that he knows i can see him ('i can seeeee youuuuu!). which kind of blows his cover. but if it's a clerk who's 'at attention' and doing her/his job i just feel awkward, like i just want to load up and scamper off. there's a post lately re; 'are koreans too serious'. these staff loaded stores are rather SERIOUS.
back in canada, where i'm from, the staff are tearing around. you have to go look for somebody, maybe in the next long aisle so it's a trip down to the corner for a peek down the next aisle, or two. and if they're there they are on their knees beside a case, loading shelves.
ever been to the grocery store on sunday? man, the place is FULL! sunday is apparently THE family shopping for grocs day. i'm full on bumper cars navigating.
i recently discovered BEGA cheese at emart. blue flower disses it. not me. compared to polyvinyl cheese slices, or bland 'pizza cheese' that BEGA cheese is, well, actual cheese. sharp, with that old cheese texture that has it fracture in shards. crackers and bega has almost replaced 'meals' lately. carrefour has a nice selection of cheese, but no sharp like bega. and bega's cheap. thanks, new zealand! cheesed off about cheese? try bega! a healthful alternative to kraft dinner, haha

[Bulsajo]

[Coffeecup]

Well on the original topic of being watched or followed around in stores owned by Koreans, well I do not at all think I have the final say on the matter but in one store for example I actually was able to get the store owner to finally relax with me, or he just decided to do so on his own account.

The first couple of times I went there (a small store), he would come from out of deep back in his store, answer a question or two from me, and then when I browsed extensively he would peer down from his counter giving me the sense that if I so much as made "one wrong move" (line from a cop movie) he would get suspicious, or it felt that way.

The way I played it was just to lightly smile back at him a couple of times when browsing and graciously say ahn young and thanks when making purchases, and I noticed the next few times upon going there he would hang out in the back of the store while I browsed -- I dunno, was it like he started trusting me? I never talked to him directly about it, but I remember seeing him way in back slouching in his chair so that was a big difference from being purched at his front counter. He was not a very friendly person but he was sort of a nice, softer spoken guy.

Anyways I am not the almighty of knowledge on the matter but just sharing a single experience I've had.

[whatthefunk]

They follow you around because there are suckers like me in the store who will buy just about anything from a beautiful korean girl in a short skirt.
I was in E-mart once trying to decide which brand of laundry detergent to buy when a gorgeous girl in a small skirt came up and offered me a nice smile and an enormous bag of detergent. I don't quite know what happened there, but I did end up buying the biggest and possibly most expensive bag of detergent in the store. Ive noticed that Kroeans are suckers for this kind of thing as well....if the sales girl tells you its the best value detergent, it is the best value detergent.

[Seoultrader]

Rawiri: "... i tried to explain to him the historical context which has resulted in the state that many af. am are in today, but he refused to listen...."

What state is that? The state of incarceration, probabtion or pre-trial/sentencing that something like 25% of AfrAm males (I think the age figure is about 18-35) are in? But that's naturally the white man's fault. As is the high rate of 'alcoholism' among Native Americans. (do you guys realize that in most of our respective Western countries many of us would be considered borderline alcoholics considering the amount of booze we consume as "average consumers" in Korea?)

What about the plight of Asian-Americans? Oh, never mind. I forgot - they're the most well-off demographic of all.

Point is, "historical context" is no argument for a population segment's overall lack of success (or success) in 2003. Individual honky crackers, niggaz, spics and slopes in dire straits are most likely in that position because they are degenerate numbnut parasites on society and not because of decisions made by the founding fathers/slave owners.

Geez, what conflicting drivel I spew when hungry.

Back to the post's main point - I actually LIKE the attention given to me when shopping. Most salesgals in dept. stores are cuties, and what better reason & timing to start a conversation...

[Harpeau]

God have pity on that wicked soul who follows me around in the department store. I get really bad gass from my buddy Laird's chillie (No one makes it as spicy as Laird does!!), and trust me when I say that I simply do it (duck mating calls) until they pass out, and then I'm free to do my shopping.

Harpeau

[Cthulhu]