Pirates of the Indian
I heard some reports, notably in the capitalist-running-dog Leisure Times that there’d been a large scale raid on the Software and DVD pirates of Colombo. That is, they’d raided the Malls in Colombo. I went to go check this out, and as far as I can tell the shops are still open, and they even have new stuff. Notably, the full Adobe Creative Suite at at Rs 120 a pop. The particular store I visited was in the Temple Trees Shopping Complex, if anyone would like to catch these miscreants before they trash the economy.
While in the store I watched a certain unscrupulous person purchase some contraband, but the sales-person’s dumbass behavior offended me more than anything. It was another example of Sri Lankan sales turning down money. Here are the items that the John had on the counter:
* Rs 120: Adobe InDesign CS
* Rs 120: Adobe Acrobat Professional 7
* Rs 360: Adobe Premier 3 CD Set (two being bundled junk)
John didn’t want the 2 CDs of crap so he asked if he could just have the 1. Sales says no. Then John offers Rs 300 for the set. Sales again says no. Finally the guy turns around, gets one Premier disc from a stack behind him and wraps it in the plastic case. So, rather than take Rs 300 he went for Rs 120. I’m sure John would have gone to Rs 320 you silly schmuck. The stickling for rules continued ad absurdium. Sales looked at the Acrobat 7 disc and noticed that the listing of ‘System Requirements’ was smudged – you know, where it says
* Intel Pentium
* MS Windows
* 128 MB RAM
* etc
In the middle of a purchase, sales asks John to turn around and return the damaged product to the shelf. Note that he doesn’t take the product back. John simply turns around and puts the disc back on the shelf, where the next client will pick it up again. How many times has this process been repeated? Is it a socializiation ritual or something?
The last time I saw this stickling for rules was in a resto. Me and friends from work were trying to eat. It was hot and we wanted to sit inside that day, but the menu was way more ‘spensive than the usual lunch packets (Rs 60). We asked if we could eat a lunch packet inside. Waiter says no. I then offered Rs 100 to be able to eat the packet inside (which was empty by the way). The guy said no. I think I went up to Rs 120, but still no. I guess the rules are more important than money in Sri Lanka. I always thought the number one rule is to make more money, that’s the only rule worth keeping. The government knows that, why not the private sector?
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