From our house in Tawa we get a wonderful view of the vehicular traffic on the main road. While we admire the autos and utility vehicles like trucks and mobile cranes, my heart bleeds when I see brand new buses, ply this way and that every 15 minutes or so. You may wonder why?  

   Brand new buses, having a capacity for more than 30, often take only a single passenger or just a few.  Even during the time allotted for free travel for seniors, the number rarely exceeds the number of digits in your hand. Instead of addressing the issue by introducing smaller buses Metlink has now added some double decker`s too. This may be the case in most of the suburbs. Aren’t they contributing to the environmental pollution while burning the council funds. Is the green party keeping their eyes and ears closed?     

   I got some documents printed at the Warehouse stationery  at Porirua. The charge amounted to $ 7. 50. As I did not have change I handed over a fifty dollar bill. After coming home only I realised that I had not taken the balance. I gave them a call and went there the next day.  At the counter, looking at the receipt, the only question they asked me was “ Was it you that gave a call”  I only had to say “Yes” to receive the proper balance. When I related this incident to a banker she said “ They should not have done that.  Such obliging are the salesman in this country.

   Here is another good example of clever salesmanship. I went to the Outlet City to buy some underwear. The popular place to purchase such items is the ‘Cotton on’ but as they did not have these, we went on window gazing. When we spotted these in a posh shop, we went in and selected a pack of three for $ 49.90. The girl at the counter came to us and said ,”  I can show you something else” and took us to another corner and pulled out a beautiful pack of a popular brand. There were 5 pieces for only $15.00.What a bargain? Why did she do that? Was she unfaithful to the employer? See what she gained. Hereafter whenever we go to the Outlet city, first place to drop in would be that shop.

    Very often you can get novel household items at Kmart.I bought , an item called a ‘pull chopper’ for only $ 6,00. When you pull a thread , a few sharp blades rotate very fast.  It works just like a magic bullet with no power consumption except for elbow grease. We found it to be ideal to make ‘lunumiris’.  So like a hero I wanted to demonstrate this to my grandchildren. I put a few chopped pieces of red onion , some hot chillies, pepper and a quarter of a lime. While adding a few drops of olive oil I said, “You know, this gives a better taste , good nutritive value and also it will lubricate to move the blades smoothly”  “Now look” I said and held the gadget with my left hand and with my right I pulled the twine mighty hard.  “Bloody hell ! “. It got slipped off the table and the lunumiris was all over the carpet.

Cause:  Manufacturers would never have expected to keep it on a glass surface.

Lesson:-  Never attempt a demonstration without a rehearsal under the same conditions.

Upali Salpadoru.