At McDonalds the other day I queued up only to have my counter shut by time I reached the front. Clearly aware of my situation, the girl decided to take my order anyways and proceeded to write it on a piece of paper. At that point I figured she would fasttrack me. What she then did left me totally confused.
She handed me the piece of paper, with my order on it, told me to queue up and said ‘give this to the person when you reach the front’. I obliged.
To this point, I still don’t know what she hoped to achieve. It saved me no time. It saved me no saliva : I still had to queue, and I still had to dictate my order.
But this problem is ubiquitous everywhere in Beijing: many people here just don’t think. People are taught to conform, not to think freely or be logical. Many a times can you ask for directions, or ask simple questions from locals – often you won’t get an answer. People just don’t know. Or don’t care. Or have never thought to inquire. It’s a huge problem, and needless to say bloody annoying!
Maybe ignorance is bliss, as they say. But for people at the receiving end… sometimes you just feel like punching someone!