During my last trip, I was particularly amazed by the lady at the Mlesna shop at Crescat. When we walked in, she was clearly angry or to the most part, unhappy from an incident/reason that did not involve us, but…anyway, she glanced at us, and continued talking to her colleague about this whatever that was below being pleasant. We stood there for about 2 mins (which is very long, when you count the 120 seconds..), because we specifically needed about 10-12 boxes of tea and that quantity was not readily displayed/available on the shelves.

What surprised me even more was the lack of interest even after we walked off; it did not bring them to the realisation that customers had walked in, waited for them, and walked off. It did not prompt them to at least say, “sorry, can we help you?”.

I ended up getting my tea from a different outlet, but these first points of engagement do not realise that, that sort of unpleasant attitude can drive away foreigners (the very clientele they aim to serve) who are far more sensitive than most of us locals. That doesn’t in any way mean that we as Sri Lankans should be as tolerant either.

Sad state of affairs.