I went to Costco today to pick up the usual load of groceries, and had to deal with the usual load of mooks. It's my own fault for not getting up earlier. Flint and I would always show up at 10 when they opened in order to be in and out before the place was overrun.
There was plenty of parking spaces at that time, too. There was also plenty of parking spaces when we left, but damned if the mooks weren't parked anywhere and everywhere. Especially in the travel lanes, making them as narrow as they possibly could. What did they care, the fucking mooks?
I remember one time we went there in the middle of the day. I was surprised we got out of there with as little pain as we did. And we didn't have to kill hardly anyone!
Today there were a couple of Koreans ahead of me in the checkout line. The girl was a typically useless Korean female, who had a purse hanging from one arm, rendering it useless for moving the groceries from the cart to the conveyer belt. She would try and grab something and move it, but all she could do was sort of push or pull at it vaguely until the guy picked it up for her. I suppose she could've put the bag down and used two arms, but... I don't know, it didn't seem to occur to her.
Then there was the guy and his wife that I kept meeting coming the other way. You know when you're going up and down the aisles and you constantly meet someone going in the opposite direction? It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't constantly park their cart in front of the exact thing I wanted every single damn time!
These mooks topped off my experience just as I was leaving. I was coming back to my car after dropping off my cart, and there they were, in between my car and theirs, loading stuff into their side door. I got into my car, started the engine, and waited for them to get out of the way. They unloaded half their stuff, finally "noticed" me, and waved at me to go. Without moving themselves or their cart from in between the vehicles.
What the kimchi?
Since when is that safe practice? I shook my head. I eventually had to wait for them to finish unloading everything and get out of the way before I could move.
Fucking mooks.
Friday, January 7, 2011
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On a good day I hate shopping and try to avoid it. :)
ReplyDeleteSo far my mook encounters at home have been few and far between.
You should have shouted something in Korean to them. Yah! Gaeseki! Waegulae?!?!? :)
Sounds like any mall visit in N.A. But, mostly, the phrase "typically useless Korean female" strikes me as racist.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong- say what you want, I hate censorship. But, to me, this goes too far, and perhaps reflects a set of mind that was not too healthy that day.
Mokpo ka shibal shyang yon-ah!! Ah shibal cheon yon-ah! Ah shibal gaeseki, aishhhhhh...
ReplyDeleteCostco shopping in Korea is a rare form of hell.
1, There's fuck all worth buying-no dill pickles, no fresh cooked bread, just sugar laden American food chosen for it's appeal to Koreans. Unfortunately they all leave thinking this is what 'western food' is. Mocha bread, mocha coffee sweet pickles, sugar, fucking sugared sugar, sugar bacon, sugar mustard etc etc
2, Koreans who use shopping as their 'me-time'. You'll see Koreans there who are buying stuff in restaurant quantities and they generally don't dilly dally too much. But then there's the garden variety mook for whom Costco is their monthly exposure to anything vaguely modern and has put the zap on their heads
3, Freebie hunters. They were giving out samples of prime mad cow beef and a kid sticks his mouth into the tray to drink the gravy. Child saliva anyone?
The place always stinks of onions as I leave. Are they going to eat them? No, but they're free, so why care?
4, Related to 1-3 shopping as self-importance. "Oh my friends are in front, can I go before you?" What, so I can stay here 10 more minutes? No. The Costco staff will remind people of rules so they're learning.
Why is Korean Costco so fucking bad? Japanese Costco has simple New Zealand cheddar and dill pickles. Are Koreans that impulsive driven with sugar and associate sugar with western food automatically? Only a few Korean foods are that sweet eg bulgogi and ddokbokki, fried chicken, dok dori tang...hmm, there quite a lot actually, but no such abortion as a ham and jam sandwich.
Freebie hunters. One of my old student/friends (literally and figuratively, he is 10 years older than me which of course means I couldn't tell Koreans he is a friend but I digress) would do that. If i had to do any grocery shopping he wanted to tag along and would spend the whole time gobbling down freebies and practicing his English. If he knew in advance that I was going he would skip the meal before shopping so he could fill up more.
ReplyDeleteKevin, I think my comment could be considered sexist, but racist? Koreans aren't a race.
ReplyDeleteKorean females, in my experience, are generally useless when it comes to anything requiring physical strength. I think they're taught from an early age to appear as helpless when confronted with what passes for masculinity.
Mr. Pharmacist, I usually found dill pickles in the Costcos I went to (Daegu, Daejon). Life isn't worth living without them. I remember my knees buckled after re-introducing myself.
ReplyDeleteKoreans like their sugar.
I remember watching with mingled amusement and horror as the Koreans used the chopped onions (which I used to accompany my hot dog) as their main meal. They'd get a BIG pile, slather on the mustard and ketchup, and go to town.
Eurgh.
Stig
ReplyDeletePeople also need to keep in mind that Koreans are one of the few peoples you can make generalizations about and be right. Group think is strong enough there for stereotypes and generalizations tend to be true. They tend to confirm even when it comes to thinking. Even when it is patently absurd or wrong. Like fan death, pure blood, mad cow, the list goes on and on.
As you said, a lot of Korean women like to put on airs appearing weak so the big strong man will do everything. The men tend to like this because it assuages their ego and reinforces their ideas of why women need them.
You can definitely generalise about Koreans because of how when they talk of 'foreigners' they lump them all together rather than breaking them down by other categories like nationality, religion etc. When a Korean starts arguing with you about what 'foreigners' like or do then you know you're dealing with people who have a blinkered idea of the world stemming from their own limited and limiting ideas of what being Korean can or should mean. In a way it's not their fault because Korea lacks variety. Mostly, how can they know better? They won't get it from TV, movies, food, travel even. The 'bubble people' indeed.
ReplyDeleteWell said Mr. P.
ReplyDeleteAnd to pick up on some of what Stig said about Korean not being a race. I find a lot of people make that mistake when talking about the words/actions of others. There is a difference between a nationality or ethnicity and a race. Canadian is not a race. Someone may be discriminatory against Canadians but that isn't racism. It is discrimination.