A Page From The Past

I wrote in my last blog post (Interesting Robbery) the following:

 

PS: There is a reason for writing this blog post. Stay tuned for my next blog post.

 

So, here it is.

 

A few of our blogger friends know that my company transferred me to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a few years. Here is what happened. On a nice weekend afternoon, we went to a store to buy some Objet D’art. In that store there was the shop owner and 2 Indian sales guys.

 

We were interested in a particular item. The owner, who attended us, quoted a price around US$250. We thought that was too much. So we gave a counter offer of US$200. The owner refused to accept our offer and therefore we dropped the idea of buying that item.

 

We were still in the store looking for other items. The owner left the store. The 2 Indian sales guys came toward us. They heard I and my wife talking in Tamil. They asked us “neenga tamila” (Are you Tamils?). We said yes. Then they started to talk to us in Tamil.

 

They said how bad the store owner is and how the life is so difficult for them in Saudi. We just listened and never gave any comment or opinion. Finally they said:

 

"Neenga nammavanga. (You are one of our own). The owner is not here. We are in-charge here now. Therefore, please take that US$250 Objet D’art and walk out of the store. You don’t have to pay anything. It is free for you."

 

My wife froze. I was shocked.  We thanked them for their offer and told them we don’t want anything without paying for the item. Then, we walked out of the store.

 

My wife was bad mouthing those 2 sales guys all the way to our home. I told her this may be their attempt to take revenge on the store owner.

 

First and foremost, we don’t believe in stealing or shoplifting. Plus, this $250 is not going to make us rich.

 

What if these two guys were laying a trap for us and catch us if we take that item and walk out.

 

What if the store has a CCTV.

 

I am told if you are put in jail in Saudi, it will take 6 months for a lawyer to find out which jail you are in.  I don't know if that is true or not.

Interesting Robbery

A woman in USA was arrested for attempting to rob a department store. She allegedly picked up several high priced items and covered up the bar codes with stickers of other merchandise that were on sale in the store.  She paid only $3.70 for items worth more than $1,800.

 

She rang up these items in a self-checkout counter. Usually, the store detectives always keep an extra eye on self-checkout counters. A store detective stopped her before she could leave the building.

 

The bail for her is set for $3,000.

 

Here are some of the comments I read:

 

If you cannot afford it, don’t buy it. Don’t steal it.

 

I am so stupid I just paid $1800 for a cell phone that is worth only $3.70.

 

Did she put a cheaper sticker to get a $3000 bail amount (instead of a bigger bail amount)?

 

If she had stolen $1 billion, she would go scot free with a big reputation.

 

She did not steal anything. Just used creative discount.

 

The reality is this country has seriously stupid people.

 

Looks like this is the first time she was “caught”.

 

PS: There is a reason for writing this blog post. Stay tuned for my next blog post.