burst into flames?

sometimes it completely amazes me that this country has not yet burst into flames.

harsh?

indeed.

i just my only free, non scheduled, designated 'santa hat shopping' hour of the day at tesco...the closest thing to a superstore here. i am taking my students caroling at a hospital and then to a resort tomorrow evening and i wanted to buy them santa hats as a thank you. i spent about thirty minutes working through the store finding christmas things here and there in no particular order...garland here, fake trees here, candy there, random santa shirts with mis-spelled words all over...but the damn hats? well, precisely where they should be. next to the tvs that are on sale, under a stack of 'happy new year' garland. duh.

the price tags had been conveniently ripped off all of the remaining santa hats.

bangarang.

i asked the tesco-shirt-clad woman how much the hats were. "sip song baht." 12 baht. about 27 cents. no problem. can be done (this all has to work into my monthly school budget...)

i took eight hats to one of two registers and fought through lines to get a place. then i had the joy of waiting in line for twenty, yes, twenty minutes, shifting my weight from foot to foot, huffing as rude people waiting in line do. i got to the register and the smile-free cashier, and price? 48 baht each. bringing me way over my budget. i explained to the woman that i was told a different price, and could she check. she said no, and i left. simple transaction.

fun fun fun in the land of smiles.