Rise in Literacy, Decline in Understanding

I had been in fit of inner laughter all the way through observing the couple in front of me, two fashionable and dandy fellows. Both sported smart spectacles that gave out air of intelligence. I would have believed it had not been mere air had it not been for the fact that they were standing by a troley full of goods in a queue of which signpost read “no trolley – cash only”.

“Sayang ya, cakep-cakep nggak bisa baca…”

There was no way, I had thought, that they had missed the sign. It even included pictures of a troley and cards (look-alike) crossed in red paint. Other patrons began to grumble loudly, apparently hoping these gentlemen to go to proper line. “Sayang ya, cakep-cakep nggak bisa baca… (it’s too sad that these good looking men are unable to read…)” One of them murmured a little too loud that I was sure, those words could not be lost on these gentlemen. Of course, these men do read.

It was fun watching them pretending not listening to the other’s grumbles.

The lady attending the cashier allowed the trolley to pass through with a smile and a gentle reminder that they were abusing the line intended for non-trolley checkouts. But when they took out cards instead of cash, her countenance hardened and I silently cheered. Yeah, tell ’em Lady! She became stricter and, with a firmer voice, asked, “do tell which part of the sign is unclear, Sirs?”

Some of us gave out small laughs and chortles, some sounded derisive that I began to take pity on the gentlemen when I should not have. I started thinking that I had just demonstrated that, indeed, good looking people can get away with everything.

The cashier lady then directed the two gentlemen towards another cashier that handled cashless payment.

On a side note, google translates Indonesian’s “cakep” to English’s “saucy” and “cute” which are not really there. But this got me thinking in an attempt to absolve these men’s behaviour. Maybe they misunderstood the signpost or had different interpretation. Could the “no trolley – cash only” notice means if you bring no trolley, you can only pay with cash and if it’s trolley then cards are acceptable? Did those gents really think that? Was this an instance of those “out-of-the-box” thinking we are encouraged to do?

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