Back to Work in early February 2010

Tony and Andis go to Hui Shan's new Tesco Supermarket

Andis, until Wednesday afternoon this week, thought that he had experienced all that was worth experiencing in life.  But the first visit of his life to a Tesco changed his mind, shifted his paradigms, and shook all his life-time assumptions to the core.  

 

His trip to the new Hui Shan Tesco was the second Road to Damascus experience of his life (the first being his listening to Rush Limbaugh).  Said Andis:"Who thought a trip to a supermarket could be so wonderful!".

Actually, it wasn't that big a deal.

The Hui Shan Tesco was remarkable in its' absolute ordinariness.  If it wasn't for the fact that it sold guacamole, Hui Shan Tesco would have been completely one hundred percent typically and unremarkably ordinary like every other supermarket in Wuxi.

 

Andis was disappointed that the Tesco didn't sell Pineapple Beer.  Its' vegetable market was skimpy, and its bakery seemed to have no rare treasures.

 

Andis can't decide if the Tesco is bigger than the Carrefour in Baoli.  Andis's wife Jenny insists that the Tesco is bigger.  Andis is not so certain.  What is for certain, is that the Tesco layout resembles that of many other supermarkets in Wuxi: mini mall on the main floor; a floor of hardware, electronics, and clothes; and a floor with a grocery store.

 

There is no point in Wuxi Expats, other than Andis, going to this supermarket.

 

AKIC grade: C-minus.

Fish Jumping into Shopping Cart poses Ethical Dilemma

Unhistorical and dull as Andis's trip to the Tesco was.  He did have another first-time-in-the-life experience on Wednesday, other than being in a Tesco.  When in the meat section, he parked his shopping cart beside a tank of live fish (to the Chinese, fresh fish means live fish) for the benefit of satisfying his son Tony's natural curiosity about fish.  These fish, Andis noticed, made for a lively bunch, some sticking up their mouths for a breath of air.  Shortly thereafter, one of the fish jumped out of the tank into Andis's shopping cart.

Andis's first reaction was to move his purchases and things in the cart away from that fish .  He hoped that some employee would quickly come to his aid.  But none did, so he grabbed a net that was in the tank, but the net had fish in it already -- Andis decided he couldn't use the net and so put it back in the tank.  He then grabbed the fish with his hand hoping to throw it back in the tank, but the fish slipped out of his hand on to the floor.  It was then that another shopper gave Andis a bag with which he could handle the fish.  Using the bag, Andis grabbed the fish on the floor and threw it back to the tank with its' brothers.

Andis wondered if he had done the right thing.  Clearly, the fish yearned for freedom.  And Andis supposedly being sympathetic to those desiring freedom, maybe should have smuggled the fish out of the store and thrown it into a nearby canal.  And there was the question of contamination from having thrown the fish back into the tank...

A Thought

Question:  Who is more likely to suffer a concussion: a person wearing a football helmet (that be NFL football!), or someone not wearing a football helmet?

Answer:  The person wearing the football helmet because he is more likely to be playing football.