Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Sandton City

Wow. Who knew that 2 hours at Sandton City could be so entertaining? I don't really shop at Sandton City purely because it's waay too expensive and because I have shopping malls closer to home.

Right, so with that said. I had to return something to Sandton City that I had purchased. I had a few hours to spare and decided to walk around a bit. I needed Re-writable CD's and underwear. In no particular order.
I know this is a little weird for some, but it's not like I go underwear shopping all that often. I normally buy in bulk -so to speak and that lasts me for a while. A long while.
I know that we're in an economic slump, but dude. R250 for a bra? One bra?
I ended spending R910.35 today and got two bra's and 5 panties. Basically 1 pair for each day of the week. Weekends are going to be a la Britney. Kidding. Or am I?
I literally had one of those tug of wars with my credit card and the sales lady. It wasn't pretty.

Sales Lady: 1
Blondie: 0
Right, so there I am deciding between cute little briefs that say: "Access Denied" and "Fragile: This Way Up", this elderly gentleman walks in. He has his walking stick in one hand and a Woolworths packet in the other.
He says (matter of factly) to the I'm-so-bored-please-can-I-fold-another-pair-of-panties-woohoo sales lady: "Excuse me. Are there fashion shows?"
"Huh?"
"Well. If I wanted to buy something for the Mrs, how would I know what to get?"
"Um. Look in her cupboard and see what she likes or find out her size and surprise her."
"Bu-but don't you have models here to try on the lingerie for me to decide?"
"No sir."
"Awwww!"
We suddenly clicked that this sweet old man was not so sweet after all. He's a filthy pervert. I was enthralled.
I finally left with my pretty packet - at least the packaging was worth it (a shallow satisfaction.)
I had to wait in line to pay for my parking, which by the way is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. So, it's finally my turn. I insert the parking voucher and insert a R20 note. I'm supposed to get R7 back. I do and out pops the new R5 coin and a R2 coin.
As I pop the coins into my wallet, I suddenly notice something unusual. It's not a R5 coin. It looks similiar and is the same weight.
Nope. It's a Turkish 1 cent coin. Man, I was pissed. Although...I now would like to find out what a) the exchange rate is
b) aren't they part of the EU, so they should be using Euro's, in which case this is null and void or it's potentially worth something as an old coin? (I may sound stupid, but I don't actually know if they're part of the EU or not.)
c) I've been swindled out of R5.


Above is the Turkish coin.

Above is the old R5 coin on the left and the new R5 coin on the Right
.

Oh and to try and get some help or someone who actually gives a damn is almost impossible, so I now have Turkish money in my wallet. Have I thought about passing it off as R5 coin myself?
Hell yes.
Will I?
Dude no...I do believe in Karma. Financial Karma.

19 comments:

po said...

hahaha

Oh dear, that old man sounds dodgy, I think he was looking for a strip joint?

As to the coin, Turkey are not part of the EU yet and I am thinking that coin would not buy you peanuts. It is pretty though.

Janine / Being Brazen said...

Dodgy men and turkish money ....well, sandton does sound interesting :)

phillygirl said...

Paha, what an entertaining shopping experience!

I think the coin thing is pretty cool ... to be honest it's quite a smart move (by the original Turkish coin user, not for you). I knew of a sneaky trick with the old Swazi Lilangeni. It was the same weight & size as the Pound coins. Much cheaper to use Lilangeni's in a UK phone box than Pounds. Sadly they've since changed the Swazi coin so this trick no longer works.

Anonymous said...

LOL, never a dull moment when it comes to Sandton!

Kit said...

Pretty funny, but i wouldn't feel bad about popping that Turkish coin back into the next parking meter thingy...

As long as it works the same as a R5 coin, the next person who gets it can just use it as their parking money.

Just think - you'll be giving the next guy a story to tell as well.

Unknown said...

Hell, I'm with you on the expense of underwear - especially bra's these days. It's just a bit of wire and fabric, what can cost so much?
I say you should pass that coin off as a R5, why no? You didn't start it! Hee hee, am I being naughty now? I bet you no one would even notice.

Tamara said...

I wish I could only buy underwear occasionally. I can't resist the stuff and often come back from a trip to buy a list of sensible things like toothpaste or oven cleaner having walked past the lingerie shop and spent all my money there instead.

Cam said...

Damn...busted!

I thought wearing that 'old man' suit would get me back into Lasenza! ;)

and BB...of coarse Sandton is very interesting, I live there!

The Blonde Blogshell said...

Ches...it was Lasenza..oh.my. God! It was YOU!!! few days early for Halloween isn't it? LOL

I know Sandton very well...but it still never ceases to amaze me! LOL

The Blonde Blogshell said...

Po..hilarious...he obviously got very lost! It is pretty...pretty useless! LOL

The Blonde Blogshell said...

BB -tres interesting!! :-)

The Blonde Blogshell said...

Philly girl...that IS sneaky! Hmmm... *evil thoughts* :-)

The Blonde Blogshell said...

Philly girl...that IS sneaky! Hmmm... *evil thoughts* :-)

The Blonde Blogshell said...

Tay -spot on!! Never a dull moment -must say it's always interesting to people watch (in a non-stalkerish way, of course ;-)

The Blonde Blogshell said...

I didn't think of that Kit...but what about financial karma?
Or...maybe it's a sign I need to go to Turkey.
Nah -didn't think so! Haha

The Blonde Blogshell said...

Evil Kitty...I LIKE IT! LOL

The Blonde Blogshell said...

Tamara (gasp) how do you do it? I was horrified at the prices! Impressive that you can that's for sure!!

Len said...

There's a Turkish coin that resembles a 2 Euro coin a lot. I got when I was working at the entrance of a club!

What's been said here: use it as parking money. The next one can do the same and so it'll never be lost ;)

Anonymous said...

I truly believe that we have reached the point where technology has become one with our lives, and I am fairly confident when I say that we have passed the point of no return in our relationship with technology.

I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside... I just hope that as technology further advances, the possibility of transferring our memories onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's one of the things I really wish I could encounter in my lifetime.

(Submitted on WhatPost for R4i Nintendo DS.)