Saturday!

Today was a very interesting day, it was the first day in Plymouth that we didn’t have classes and we could roam around all day. First Tara and I went to the mall and the local shops; we came across a really unusual store. Everyone was just sitting in chairs reading catalogs and we were really confused so we went inside and asked the lady if she could explain the concept of the store and what everyone was doing. She told us that everyone just sits down, reads the catalog and picks the items they want. They then write down on a piece of paper the number associated with the item. Finally, they go to the check out, pay for the items and someone who works there goes upstairs to get the item. It was such an unusual concept but I can see the convenience in it for people who do not want to spend their time walking around a mall. This is something I could see eventually coming to the states as people get lazier and lazier! The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was very similar to Ikea, except you get the item yourself at the end instead of an employee getting it for you. Next, we went to a fashionable clothing store and I went into the fitting room to try on one piece of clothing. The lady working there said, "You need to bring in 3 at a time." I responded and said, "Oh no, I just have one thing to try on" she handed me two more random pieces of clothing and responded with, "No, for security purposes you need to take 3 things with you in the fitting room." How weird is that? I had to take more items into the fitting room for security purposes. I guess they just make everyone take 3 things in at a time so they don’t have to remember how many pieces of clothing each person had going it. It just makes it easier for them to keep track and make sure no one puts clothes in their purse. Finally, we went out to eat. We ordered at the bar, gave them cash and the bartender handed us our change back. Amy left the change on the counter for a tip and the bartender gave the money back because he thought we forgot our change at the bar. I still find it so unusual people don’t tip here and it is not expected in restaurants or bars. Well... that was my day, I'll be back tomorrow!