Fire-breathing angry
The day started pretty well, mocha and a bagel and a bus to take an adventure on. E-Mart was closed so I figured I wasn't going to get much done, and the bus went to the train station, which would involve getting that much done, so I went.
On the way was a gorgeous temple I will have to explore later, a five-story number up against a ridge (this being east coast Korea, though, nearly everything is 'up against a ridge'). I'd taken my happy new neon yellow umbrella more as an accessory, expecting a tiny sprinkle at most. I get a timetable from the train station and talked to a Japanese woman who let me practice what little Japanese I could remember, so I felt pretty good. Near the train station was a rather impressive shopping area, so I went there. Wandered down a ways and found an Artbox, which is always fun to putter around in.
Well, almost fun. See, the aisles in that place are always too small, and me being large and wearing a backpack is only awkward on most days. Today, it got me shoved a lot. More than I cared to deal with. I stopped to grab my magnifying glass, trying to read the specs on the computer speakers. To do this I set my umbrella against a "perapera" cosmetics display, which turns out to be directly under some CCTV cameras. Not that it mattered.
I got distracted and failed to go back for my umbrella, I realized the error probably a half hour later after finding a bathroom and an art supply store. First I tried the train station, not there, then remembered the Artbox. I got back there, remembered the speakers, and asked the counter people. Nope, but I felt dismissed. I appreciate that they're busy, young people with minimal English and I in Korea, but dammit! I've left things behind by accident before, my phone, my Nikon, and they've always come back to me because somebody cared that somebody had lost it. Not yellow neon umbrellas, apparently--this is how I lost mine last year. I stalked around the Artbox a bit, making it very clear how very angry I was without tossing the place, and left my phone number at the counter when the line went down. I don't expect a call.
I guess what gets me is how Artbox is the worst of both worlds. In the U.S., if you leave something behind you write it off--it's gone. That's the expectation, so you hang onto your things. On the other hand aisles are wide enough to drive wheelchairs through as a rule, so people aren't pushing and shoving you. In the States I could easily have gotten into my bag (assuming the shop didn't have objections to the backpack in the first place) without having to leave the aisle I was in and seek a less busy part of the store. I'd have kept all my shit together. So here at Artbox you've got sticky-fingered people who will shove you, but socially you can't confront them like you would in the States because shoving is accepted as normal because it generally is harmless and doesn't lead to you having your shit stolen.
Until the cab driver was extra-sweet to me today, I hate Koreans this afternoon. Now I just hate Artbox.
Yeah, that angry. Artbox has cool stuff but I don't think I'm going back there again. Ever, if I can help it.
On the way was a gorgeous temple I will have to explore later, a five-story number up against a ridge (this being east coast Korea, though, nearly everything is 'up against a ridge'). I'd taken my happy new neon yellow umbrella more as an accessory, expecting a tiny sprinkle at most. I get a timetable from the train station and talked to a Japanese woman who let me practice what little Japanese I could remember, so I felt pretty good. Near the train station was a rather impressive shopping area, so I went there. Wandered down a ways and found an Artbox, which is always fun to putter around in.
Well, almost fun. See, the aisles in that place are always too small, and me being large and wearing a backpack is only awkward on most days. Today, it got me shoved a lot. More than I cared to deal with. I stopped to grab my magnifying glass, trying to read the specs on the computer speakers. To do this I set my umbrella against a "perapera" cosmetics display, which turns out to be directly under some CCTV cameras. Not that it mattered.
I got distracted and failed to go back for my umbrella, I realized the error probably a half hour later after finding a bathroom and an art supply store. First I tried the train station, not there, then remembered the Artbox. I got back there, remembered the speakers, and asked the counter people. Nope, but I felt dismissed. I appreciate that they're busy, young people with minimal English and I in Korea, but dammit! I've left things behind by accident before, my phone, my Nikon, and they've always come back to me because somebody cared that somebody had lost it. Not yellow neon umbrellas, apparently--this is how I lost mine last year. I stalked around the Artbox a bit, making it very clear how very angry I was without tossing the place, and left my phone number at the counter when the line went down. I don't expect a call.
I guess what gets me is how Artbox is the worst of both worlds. In the U.S., if you leave something behind you write it off--it's gone. That's the expectation, so you hang onto your things. On the other hand aisles are wide enough to drive wheelchairs through as a rule, so people aren't pushing and shoving you. In the States I could easily have gotten into my bag (assuming the shop didn't have objections to the backpack in the first place) without having to leave the aisle I was in and seek a less busy part of the store. I'd have kept all my shit together. So here at Artbox you've got sticky-fingered people who will shove you, but socially you can't confront them like you would in the States because shoving is accepted as normal because it generally is harmless and doesn't lead to you having your shit stolen.
Until the cab driver was extra-sweet to me today, I hate Koreans this afternoon. Now I just hate Artbox.
Yeah, that angry. Artbox has cool stuff but I don't think I'm going back there again. Ever, if I can help it.