Thanks to globalization, the Indian lifestyle has become a curious blend of the occident and the orient. And one frequently encounters situations of mirth and merriment arising out of this curious mix. I came across one such incident today.
I had gone to the local D Mart with my wife to shop for the monthly groceries. Inside the hypermarket, I was allotted the important task of pushing or pulling the shopping trolley so as to maintain within 5 metres of my wife. It’s an amazing experience to witness the multitude of variables which a housewife examines before deciding on a particular product or a brand. Since I boast of being happily married for 20 years, I have, naturally, developed the wisdom to keep my mouth shut during my wife’s shopping forays. My participation is limited to answering questions like “ Is 660 gms of X detergent at Rs 75 a better bargain than 800 gms of Y detergent at Rs 80 ?”…….
So, in the true spirit of a happily married couple, we loaded our trolley to the brim with the goodies my wife wanted and proceeded to one of the numerous cash counters. The counter was manned by a Cashier girl and her Assistant. The Cashier had a barcode reader connected to a computer which scanned the price and did all the calculations – a typical Point of Sale operation prevalent worldwide. So Ms Cashier scanned and Ms Assistant packed the grocery in bags. The billing complete, I produced my card and signed the credit chit. Transaction completed! At this point, we could see a hectic and tensed whispering session between the Cashier and her Assistant. The Assistant excused herself and went away.
Ms Cashier gave us a charming smile and requested us to wait since her Assitant had gone to meet the Supervisor about our gift items. In recession, grocery freebies are always welcome. But curiosity got the better of me and I inquired ‘ Gift with which item?” Ms Cashier politely handed over one of the ten JAMZ biscuits packets my wife had purchased. As I tried reading about the gift offer, Ms Assistant came back breathless and apologized that the free gift with the biscuit packet was unfortunately not in stock. Ms Cashier wanted to know if we still desired to buy the biscuits since the “free gift” was not available. Meanwhile, I could not find any mention of any gift offer or scheme on the biscuit pack. Finally I asked Ms Cashier as to what free gift was she talking about! She smiled and rather importantly pointed to a blue text box on the biscuit pack which read “ TRANS FAT FREE”.