It's only been 5 days, but it feels like we have been here forever. I admit we have been on a bit of a spending spree in the last few days - but when you move halfway across the globe with only books and clothes, you need to replace some things.
Speaking of buying things, it is amazing how much I have gotten used to the cashless society that America has become. Here, I have only had success using a credit card at Ikea - and I do not think it is only because I am a foreigner. Here is an example: On Wednesday, we traveled to B&Q, which is the Chinese equivalent of Home Depot, to look for a ceiling fan. After a good deal of explaining what a ceiling fan and some time cajoling the employees to take boxes off the high shelves for us, we finally approached the checkout with around $300 USD in merchandise to purchase. After being told that they did accept credit cards, the cashier called her manager to help with the transaction. The manager came by, whisked our Mastercard from Rachel's hand, and disappeared to the service desk. There, she spent a good 20 minutes on the phone (with whom, I'll never know) as she leafed through a powerpoint printout relating to processing credit card transactions. In the end, it was a fruitless endeavor and we had to pay cash. The only explanation we were given is that we could have used Visa. I feel like there is a commercial idea in there somewhere...
So imagine life where you can only pay cash, yet the largest bill available is only worth $15. Think of the wad of cash you need to buy a sofa, a TV, a car, a plane ticket...
On the other hand, I appreciate that this society does NOT promote consumer debt as a fact of life...
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1 comment:
That would be a great commercial!
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