Questa è Enida

I wish I could have the decency to wait a day or two before I write this. I wish I had the will to see the other side of the coin. But I can’t, I don’t and I have no intention whatsoever to be nice or to say it nicely today. I am roiled in anger and I don’t want to make any effort to hide it.

The people who run Mr. Rizal Kerepek Pusat Bandar Damansara stall are a pile of pillocks. Here’s the story morning glory:

Left home at 0630 – earlier than usual – and got to the office parking 0700. Walked straight to Mr. Rizal Kerepek stall right across from Indah Water to get Kerepek Pisang (Banana Chips) for my brother’s rewang next week. I asked for 20 packs at first. The guy could only pack 15 in one big carry bag. So I thought, okay…give me another bag of 15 then. Make my day! (RM6.00 per pack).

The guy couldn’t find the basket of more kerepek pisang, so he asked the older lady (a makcik who looked like in her early 70’s) whom, I assumed, runs the whole stall. She was surprised I wanted to buy a lot. And she said NO. No to 30 packs! I was nonplussed, to say the least. But I thought I heard her wrong. She took no time to make herself clear when she said, “Kesian nanti orang lain datang kerepek pisang dah abis. Tak buleh beli banyak. Lima belas buleh lah kot. Tu pun banyak.“

My eyes must have jumped out of their sockets and landed on the kerepek table. And my jaw could not have dropped any lower than the fourth floor basement parking this morning! The makcik mumbled another line or two to the other customers who were shopping for kueh there. I heard her well. “Kesian orang yang datang beli hari-hari ni kang datang nak beli kerepek pisang. Kita kena simpan lah untuk orang lain kan.” She wasn’t looking at me when she said this. In fact, she was looking at other customers, nodding her head as though looking for their accord.

So I asked her and the guy if all the kerepek packs were ‘reserved’ for someone else, then. None of them answered me. But the makcik asked me to place an order, instead, to get those chips in bulk like that. It was my turn to say no. What’s the point of getting there so early if I still had to wait? I stood my ground, giving them the ultimatum: 30 packs or NONE. The makcik said, “Tak pa lah, tinggai kat orang lain lah. Untuk orang yang datang harian ni. Tapi kalau nak 15 buleh lah kot.” She repeated herself.

“Macam mana berniaga macam ni ni makcik? Saya nak beli banyak ni bukan pakai credit card, nak bayar cash ni pun makcik tak mau?” I said politely, still trying extremely hard to understand the rationale of her decision. I mean, I was ever so ready to spend RM180 to even RM240 in no time at all. As it was, I made the decision to get 30 packs (instead of 20) in split second. I didn’t ‘mmm’, ‘uhhh’, ‘errr’ and ‘aaa’ about it. I obviously had no kasian for my wallet.

Just like the makcik, I had two options. To take it or leave it. And like almost any other decisions in life, it was a matter of choice. My decision was with an intention to make the makcik aware of hers. To learn that her ‘kesian’ could come with a cost. I had cost her up to RM240 in one second. One minute would have cost her RM14,400. An hour loss would be RM864,000. I left her to count her loss. Now, kasian who?

Kasian the guy who packed me the bag of 15 packs of Kerepek Pisang. Pity him for not having the courage to make a wise decision and overwrite the makcik‘s . I am off to Shah Alam this weekend to get the So-Never-Again-Mr. Rizal kerepeks.