As I rode up the escalator to the largest supermarket in town, I saw this sign. Being that the escalator does not pause to give you a moment to process the details of this sign, you can only assume that you had better be on your best behavior in this supermarket.
At the bottom of the escalator I had to put my backpack inside one of their security bags which they locked and would re-open when I left. Once I got to the top of the escalator, the employee standing at the top frantically told me to put my pen in pocket. I had in my hand a pen and a sticky-note on which I had written my grocery list. I stared in confusion at her and, before I realized that she was talking to me, she guided my hand holding the pen into my pocket. She explained that they sold pens here and I couldn't have mine out while in the store. I showed her the English writing on the pen (I apparently got the pen from a bank somewhere in the US), but she wouldn't have it. Her eyes darted around. She acted like a prison guard who was letting a prisoner sneak in a bit of contraband.
As far as the photo above, the first row contains pictures of three acceptable behaviors: carrying a baby while riding the escalator, holding onto the rail and standing on the right side of the escalator (on an interesting side note, escalators are usually laid out in the opposite way as in the US, with the left side going up and right side going down).
The sign included some obvious prohibitions such as no playing with fire in the store, no smoking, no outside food and no spitting on the ground (still quite the issue in many places in China). We are told not to play on the escalator, push children in strollers up the escalator, make loud noises or use video recording equiptment inside the supermarket. Pets are not allowed and, for some reason, somebody decided that the animal which would best represent pets was the rabbit, not the dog or cat. You may protest that dogs and cats are also food for some. Well, many Chinese also eat rabbit, so that argument doesn't explain it.
Contrary to how I first interpreted it, handicapped individuals are in fact allowed into the store, they are just not permitted to use the escalator. There is no elevator, so I guess they have to try their luck with the stairs. Wet umbrellas are not allowed into the store either. And, finally, we are reminded to take good care of our valuables.
Being a foreigner in China, I am often treated somewhat leniently, usually because it is assumed that I don't understand the rules or people don't want to try to explain them to me. This time, however, I wasn't allowed to use my pen in the store. Upon leaving, as I was walking onto the elevator, I noticed it had been raining and that person after person was entering the supermarket with dripping wet umbrellas, a clear prohibition!
As I went down the escalator, I thought to myself, "maybe next time I will try bringing in a rabbit in a child's stroller and record the whole thing!"
No comments:
Post a Comment