Service

I've mentioned the exceptional service you get in stores here before, but thought I'd illustrate it a bit. Yesterday, a woman repeatedly apologized to me for not being able to find me any shoes I liked. I'm fairly certain that would not have happened in Sweden after trying about 15 pairs on and buying flip-flops. Today, when scouting headphones, I ended up talking to a guy working in Radio shack. He lead off the conversation with "don't buy those, they're crap" and followed up with "I'm sorry, but I don't think we got anything for you" after I said wanted something better than the cheapest ones. Honesty, also not really that expected (he had about 4 models he saw I considered). I'm starting to see how people can get addicted to shopping here. If you walk into a store feeling lonely you'll have a new best friend within minutes. At least in the right stores (that nameless guy singing along to the reggae tune in the sports store was a few yards beyond creepy). Service here is exceptional, and most often also honest, direct, and professional. With the obvious exception of walking into a car retailer wearing college gear, the reception you get when shopping is close to amazing. I hate shopping, and yet I see how people can get addicted to it here. Might be why shopping is considered a hobby, or even a lifestyle, here. Weirdness. But in some strange way, understandable.