Oh no! Not again. Yesterday as I was walking to my car (after once again missing my dental appointment) I was accosted by a young Chinese guy handing out what I initially thought was a flyer. Usually I would just shake my head slightly and politely refuse such things (because I always end up throwing them in the bin anyway) but somehow he managed to shove the piece paper into my hand. He then proceeded to follow me to my car all the while informing me of a great sale in Carrefour Kepong. I told him I was in a rush.
Then, he asked me to rip open the piece of paper. (Yup, you guessed it. It was one of those 'Scratch and win' SCAMS). I got in my car and locked the door. He knocked on the window. So I rolled it down a little. Then the conversation went something like this:
"Akak, tolong koyak kertas tu. Mungkin boleh menang. Tapi kalau dapat THANK YOU sahaja jangan marah tau."
"Nanti saya buka di rumah. Saya dah lewat ni."
"Tolonglah buka di sini kakak. Kalau ada THANK YOU sahaja pun saya dapat kutip komisyen RM1."
I sighed and ripped the paper. Before even opening it I knew that I had won something BIG. So I just gave everything back to him.
"WOW! Kakak, you sudah menang ini silver punya. Ini kalau you pergi Carrefour Kepong sekarang, dapat chop boleh exchange dengan RM500 punya voucher. Saya pun sangat gembira sebab kalau dapat THANK YOU sajer saya dapat komisyen RM1, tapi ini kakak dapat silver saya dapat RM50. Tapi kena bawak saya pergi itu Kepong sekali untuk buktikan saya yang kasi kat kakak"
WHAT?!? What type of crazy arrangement was that?
"Takpelah dik, saya lewat ni. Kena gi amek anak2 saya. Anak sudah 3, mana boleh gi jalan ke Kepong."
"Wah! You sudah anak 3 ke? You kahwin umur berapa kakak, 12 kah?" (ahaha, even I'm not gullible enough to fall for that).
After a few more minutes of haggling (seriously, I would have just reversed the car except I was afraid of running over his foot) which included him telling me that I should just stay at home and look after my own kids (seriously! he actually dared to go there), I managed to get my window up and reverse without running him down. Although, I must say, by then, I doubt that I would have felt too guilty about it.
I didn't even go home straight away because I was struck by a wave of paranoia that the guy would tag my car and follow me. That is why I ended up at a stall and bought char koy, pau goreng and goreng pisang for tea (that's my story and I'm sticking to it..hehe).
I know.. I know.. I should have just walked away and drove off, but I have a real problem saying "NO" to people. That's why I always walk away from all those sales promoters at shopping complexes and hide when door-to-door salesmen come a-knocking.
Believe it or not, this is probably the fourth or fifth time that I have been sucked into the same routine (different places, different situations, same scam), and although I know from the get go that it's a scam, I can't bring myself not to at least listen to their opening gambit. However, I do make it a point to make sure that I don't show any enthusiasm and make it perfectly clear that I am not interested.
So to all of you out there, I don't buy your Oscar worthy look of surprise everytime a piece of paper tells me I've won a RM500 voucher or a set of cookware... so stop bugging me!
Then, he asked me to rip open the piece of paper. (Yup, you guessed it. It was one of those 'Scratch and win' SCAMS). I got in my car and locked the door. He knocked on the window. So I rolled it down a little. Then the conversation went something like this:
"Akak, tolong koyak kertas tu. Mungkin boleh menang. Tapi kalau dapat THANK YOU sahaja jangan marah tau."
"Nanti saya buka di rumah. Saya dah lewat ni."
"Tolonglah buka di sini kakak. Kalau ada THANK YOU sahaja pun saya dapat kutip komisyen RM1."
I sighed and ripped the paper. Before even opening it I knew that I had won something BIG. So I just gave everything back to him.
"WOW! Kakak, you sudah menang ini silver punya. Ini kalau you pergi Carrefour Kepong sekarang, dapat chop boleh exchange dengan RM500 punya voucher. Saya pun sangat gembira sebab kalau dapat THANK YOU sajer saya dapat komisyen RM1, tapi ini kakak dapat silver saya dapat RM50. Tapi kena bawak saya pergi itu Kepong sekali untuk buktikan saya yang kasi kat kakak"
WHAT?!? What type of crazy arrangement was that?
"Takpelah dik, saya lewat ni. Kena gi amek anak2 saya. Anak sudah 3, mana boleh gi jalan ke Kepong."
"Wah! You sudah anak 3 ke? You kahwin umur berapa kakak, 12 kah?" (ahaha, even I'm not gullible enough to fall for that).
After a few more minutes of haggling (seriously, I would have just reversed the car except I was afraid of running over his foot) which included him telling me that I should just stay at home and look after my own kids (seriously! he actually dared to go there), I managed to get my window up and reverse without running him down. Although, I must say, by then, I doubt that I would have felt too guilty about it.
I didn't even go home straight away because I was struck by a wave of paranoia that the guy would tag my car and follow me. That is why I ended up at a stall and bought char koy, pau goreng and goreng pisang for tea (that's my story and I'm sticking to it..hehe).
I know.. I know.. I should have just walked away and drove off, but I have a real problem saying "NO" to people. That's why I always walk away from all those sales promoters at shopping complexes and hide when door-to-door salesmen come a-knocking.
Believe it or not, this is probably the fourth or fifth time that I have been sucked into the same routine (different places, different situations, same scam), and although I know from the get go that it's a scam, I can't bring myself not to at least listen to their opening gambit. However, I do make it a point to make sure that I don't show any enthusiasm and make it perfectly clear that I am not interested.
So to all of you out there, I don't buy your Oscar worthy look of surprise everytime a piece of paper tells me I've won a RM500 voucher or a set of cookware... so stop bugging me!
