May 29...shopping in Chennai

I arrived back in the early hours of the morning on Saturday and then rested for a short while before going shopping with my mom and one of her coworkers.

The big department stores decorate their store entrances from time to time. Below are two stores that we shopped at during the day...





My mom and I with the Russian dolls displayed for the Russian theme at this store...


Interesting notes on shopping in India...
The store employees arrive and leave around the same time at customers. What this means?... Well, if you arrive when the store opens (recommended on the weekend because the stores are unbelievably crowded after about two hours after opening with people pushing each other to get through the store), then you have to be cautious about not tripping over a broom or slipping on a wet floor...that's right...they clean when the store opens in the morning while the customers are starting to shop. They actually get frustrated if you don't move when they are trying to sweep and if you track on their wet floor...not sure how to avoid this. This was fascinating to watch, knowing that this would never happen in the states because it is a lawsuit just waiting to happen, but this is not unusual in India...there are huge unmarked holes in the sidewalks, and many other things that would be lawsuit material in the states.

Another shopping observation...
At many stores you go through an assembly line type format to check out. The first employee scans the items, creates a ticket, and sometimes places the items in a basket to keep them together. Then, the basket is handed off to one or two people further down the line who you pay for your merchandise and receive change. At some stores there is one final person who takes the basket and bags the items for you (at one store they also seal the bag by melting the two pieces together so that you cannot open it...I think to help reduce stealing...usually you have to check any bags you have when you enter the store in a designated area and you receive a token to turn in to retrieve them when you leave the store).

The shopping experience is quite amusing to me at this point, but not so much for my mom. I think I would find it less amusing and more annoying the longer I lived here as well.

Well...that's my shopping adventure. Stay tuned for my 5 day adventure to northern India to the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur)...