Comments on: Security and safety

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:33:04 +0000

In a lot of the Southern States in the US I have seen quite heavily armed guards out side the supermarkets.
My friend did a stint as a medic in a hospital in Rio a few years back and commented on the types of injury which came into the A&E. Gunshots were very common plus the usual stabbings etc. Sounds a bit like parts of the UK these days doesn’t it.

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:09:24 +0000

I remember in Communist Bulgaria and Hungary back in the 60s, when we needed groceries, we had to join a queue to order what item we needed which in our case meant taking the assistant to the shop window to point it out to her. She then gave us a receipt having accepted our payment. Then we had to join another queue and hand in the receipt so that we could receive the item. The process had to be repeated several times if the category of items differed so buying a picnic lunch could take up to three quarters of an hour as the queues were long!

By: Bruce

Bruce — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:45:38 +0000

Absolutely off topic, your remarks about how some stores function there reminds me of a visit I made once to a department store. There, the shopper wandered from department to department making purchases and receiving for his cash a receipt. At the end of the visit to the store, instead of being weighed down with parcels all he had was a handful of receipts. He then went down to street level and a large area, a bit like a warehouse. There, he handed over his receipts to one of many assistants who scurried off and returned with all the purchases, each of which was wrapped and ready to take out. In a way, it was a bit like an Argos store except that instead of looking at the goods in a catalogue you saw the real thing. The store benefited by having only one of everything on the shop floor, all the rest of the stock being in th warehouse still in its boxes. I have never seen this system anywhere else. The store was in the centre of Baghdad. The year was 1955.

By: Tore

Tore — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:58:43 +0000

“This is normal in Spain for jewelers and some banks and …………………..”
also in hairdressers and similar shops in Madrid, and this I noticed in 1985.

By: Rocky

Rocky — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:34:58 +0000

With this trick you do not have to slow down when coming to a light…

Assuming you are driving on a traffic less road at night when coming to a crossing turn off your car lights for a moment, or as long as you dare, and you can see the head lights of any approaching traffic. If you see no lights, buzz right on through. Hopefully approaching traffic is not doing the same thing;) Worked for me, in my younger days, when driving late at night in suburbia.

Usual non responsibility disclaimers apply to this advice.