Now That's just Plain Ignorant and Stupid

When we come across the word "ID", what comes into our head? The first thing to pop up is a photo of the owner followed by the owner's birth date and home address. These are the general features of an ID regardless of the ID's country. What surprises me is that not everyone knows that there is a home address on an individual's ID. What surprises and even shock me more is that some people from a first world country like Canada are not aware about this. How do I know? My visit to a local video game store today tells it all.

Just today in the evening, I thought about paying a visit to the video game store not far away from my apartment. One thing amazing about the video game store around my place is that you get to trade in your old games for store credits where you can then use them to purchase other stuff in the shop. Seeing that I've already completed several PSP and PC games, I thought about trading them for a new PSP game. Consequently, I decided to visit the video game store.

The moment I arrive at the store, I saw a young lady behind the cashier's counter. This was my first time seeing her so I realized she was new. I wasn't really bothered about the new cashier as all I thought of was what new game to get. There were a couple of new games for the PSP that came out recently and because I'm only restricted to buy one game, I was in a big dilemma on which game to get. Half an hour later, I still failed to decide which game I should get; therefore I thought about knowing my trade in value of my old games first in order to save time. I took my old games out and I presented them to the new cashier at the counter.

I told her that I would like to trade in my games for a new PSP game and like the recent cashiers, she asked me for my British Columbia ID and driving license . I explained to her that I'm not a Canadian and I don't have a British Columbia ID and driving license instead, I have a Malaysian ID and driving license. The minute she knew that I didn't have those required Canadian IDs, she decline my request to trade in my old games. Shocked, I asked her how could this be possible seeing that the previous cashiers and store managers have been accepting my Malaysian IDs all the while whenever I wanted to trade my games in. Although I reminded her that I am a regular customer here and I did not experience procedures like these, she still refused to allow me to trade my games in. She added that nobody told her anything about accepting foreign IDs for trade in transaction before so she refuse to allow me to trade my games in. I asked her where was the manager and she said the manager won't be here until the next day. Feeling a bit angered and disappointed with my current situation, I told the cashier that I'll be back. However, I did not left the store. Instead, I went back to decide which new game to get.

I couldn't concentrate on deciding which game to get not because I was in a dilemma only but also because I was irritated by this new procedure. Feeling unssatisfied, I went back to the cashier and demanded that she call her manager right there and then to inquire about my situation. Just as predicted, she told me that the manager cannot be reached at the moment until the next day. Knowing that her excuse was bull shit because a store manager must be always available at all times to ensure that the store is operating flawlessly; I knew she was just being a lazy bitch. Since she won't call the manager up for me, I had to use plan B.

I then asked her what are the requirements for a foreign customer to trade their games in and why are they not given a reasonable alternative seeing that they do not posses Canadian IDs. Like earlier on, she said that she had no clue about it. Thought that she would said that, I then asked her how would her boss react if the store loss a regular customer all because of her ignorance and her lack of protocol knowledge. As usual, she did not reply because she was completely clueless and slightly shocked with the questions I asked. I could tell that she was angry about the fact that she couldn't answered back because I was right. Few minutes after the staring battle with the cashier, she then told me to let her see my Malaysian IDs.

After browsing my IDs, she said that I could trade my games in. She then told me that I should have inform her earlier on that my ID had my home address on it. The moment she said that, I knew I was dealing with someone who's stupid and ignorant. Of course, IDs are printed with important individual details including their home address. That is a general knowledge and the fact that she doesn't know it just show how stupid and ignorant she is. Not to mention, I completely felt insulted as she thought that my third world country was too stupid to include home address as one of the ID details. After trading in my old games for store credit and purchasing a new PSP game with my remaining store credit, I left the store in disbelief thinking that some first world people can be damn stupid and ignorant.

Today's visit to the store really taught me something---white people are not as smart as we think they are despite the kind of country they're living in. No wonder Michael Moore came out with a book called Stupid White Men . I'm not trying to imply that most white people are stupid...No I wouldn't dare to say that after learning the achievement and contribution to humanity of some famous white figures in history. Its just that its ironic to know no matter how advance a civilization is, there's bound to be a couple of ignorant individuals since such individuals think that there is no need to explore and learn from much inferior civilizations.