Local Shops

The other day a friend of mine and I walked into our local supermarket... well, it's more of a mini-market than anything we would describe as a supermarket in the West, although it has some interesting products in stock. If you're a fan of American candy then you will survive here in Jordan. The country seems to import more carcinogenic, fluorescent junk food than there was at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. On this particular day, however, what caught our eyes were a few rare bottles of Snapple laid neatly on display in the refrigerated section.

Excited by our discovery we picked up the other essentials and walked to the exit. Bleep, bleep, bleep went the till as the items were scanned and our mouths watered for the exotic drink which stood in line awaiting its turn. I am impressed to see electronic cash registers in these shops, as the last time I was in Jordan most transactions simply went through a cash box and notepad kept under a table. The cashier picked up our chosen item and ran it across his machine, but to his surprise, there was no beep. The little man on his chair looked confused. Why had it not worked? What was he to do? Nearing a state of panic, he tried again and again and again, eagerly hoping to hear the comforting sound that filled his days, but alas, it would not work. With a vague expression he looked at us and said, "You can't have it". We looked at each other and looked at the bottle, wondering why this man would not sell us this mango flavoured drink made from concentrate. "It's not loaded on the system," he explained sadly.

Now, I understand that some larger items may need to be registered before sale, I may even be more understanding if this had been a large supermarket akin to the french hypermarchés that have thousands of customers a day and have strict stock control procedures, but this was just a bottle of juice that we were trying to buy from our local shop. I began to prepare a suggestion for making a note of the sale and adding it to the system later or arguing that, if he really wouldn't sell it, he should remove it from the display. My friend, however, who has lived in Jordan much longer than I have and as such has grown accustomed to the ways of the land, looked at me again in a way that said, 'don't bother, this is Jordan, this is just how it is here'... And with that I knew it was pointless, the drink would never be ours, the shopkeeper, my friend and I had been defeated by technology, and I for one was wishing they still kept a cash box under the table.