Humour??? Cultural divide?

Okey this is meant to make you laugh and I hope it does it certainly made me.


okey you know like you do you pull into a busy petrol station right?


You want a full tank of petrol okey. Forget the repeat and idiotic "full, green, credit card" stuff" that you have to repeat three times and still listen to them asking the same thing "full green credit card" what about this?


I arrived at the petrol station and spied a lovely looking flower growing along side the station. So in my midlands English curiosity of such things botanical enquired of the attendant what flower it was? Assuming of course they had something to do with it. Ok Chelsea garden show just finished and Im all revved for my one by one meter HK garden repeat and repeat gesturing madly after all I want such a thing flowering in my patch.


Ok one gives up after about three seconds so back to the business of petrol. The attendant now (a large comfity sort of woman) looked at me askew and refused everyone of my credit cards after my simply rather idiotic query about the pot plant.


This was odd since I always fill up here and use the same credit card, but no she would have none of it.


With much excitement as im a very regular customer she went and hauled the manager out onto the tarmac. He too looked at my credit cards in horror. No not one would do. After awhile of heated exchanges as I had to get to work and my tank was completely plat the manger suddenly changed tune.


Okey he said full of authority fill it up yes sir that credit card will do nicely.......Ok Im gob smacked of course but rather relieved things are moving again.


The manager slips up beside my Lexus for one moment I thought he might be going to hump it, but instead he says in the sweetest voice imaginable, we give you 30% off ok, first we fill 30% free then the rest Okey. And come back next time I keep a 30% voucher for you, with a wink he is off. I dunno to eat pot noodles I supposed it being breakfast time.


Okey Im rather flabbergasted first they dont want any of my plastic any off it, now they he is not only happy to take it he is giving me a 30 % freebie.


Wow I think to myself Im going completely mad. This manager obviously and honestly loves the cut of my crotch. So very happily they give me 30% free petrol then the rest which always rather alarmingly comes to 1400 + when I curse the Japanese or my connection who gave me this heap of metal at such a good rate.


All good and well and confused I set of for the office at last, a nice full tank with 30% free.


Ya. Give or take one day and my tank is plat empty again. So there I am again at the petrol station. The same accommodating lady beams at me. I wonder what to do now throw all my credit card at her or call the manager while working up a hard on?????


Well nothing of the sort transpired she took my card filled her up and then brazenly as you please waved at the large bill board proclaiming 30% off if you use such and such a credit card, one I've never heard of before, it seems to have been made up in China.


Ya see the lovely flower growing there is what i was insistently acquiring about was what she thought was the billboard, and as none of my credit cards matched the promotion she refused every one of them. The manager called in saw my despair ( I honestly loved that colour purple) and by the grace of gawd decided to give me a free voucher for 30% off. He even lent into my ear and said no worries come next time I save you a voucher.

In wanting to know the type of flower that was growing there, you were demonstrating curiosity. As an emotion, curiosity is in Hong Kong what, in terms of taste, umami was in much of the Western world a generation or so ago -- virtually unknown. Everyone thought in terms of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.


Any attempt at interacting with normal people in HK that involves abstract inquisitiveness on your part without any monetary motivation for the other party tends to founder on the rocks of apathy and/or ignorance.


It's not a language issue either. Even if you'd had someone at hand to translate your question about the flower, the most you'd have gotten was a shrug.

Ya a load of OKEY's and there are meant to be OKEY, bit of mongkok text slang alright?


The flower was as it turns out a plastic orchid stuck in a bush to make it look real. Yes you are right Lucas the funny part though is if yu cme from England or did the same in England you would have probably got detailed instructions on how to grow where to buy and which season to plnt or a hearty laugh as they explained isnit lovely but its plastic sir. There is certainly a cross cultural thingy, sort of a bit literal here. How could anyone at a petrol station be wanting to know ANYTHING OTHER THAN ABOUT PETROL EVEN IF THEY ARE DAMN POINTING straight AT A PLASTIC FLOWER IN THE HEDGE???

lol