Honk to Shop?
Hi all,
I have been here for 2 months and i noticed that most of the locals do this, which is Honk to Shop.
So often that i saw these luxury cars or even smaller cars drive to the front of the shops, park there, and sounding the honk for several times until there s somebody from the shop to serve them. Isnt this ridiculous? i mean its not like that they earn a lot by selling things to you, but you cant even take the trouble to go down and buy? Once i even saw this guy, honk and ask that shopkeeper to bring out some shaving blades for him to choose from? cant they just make the effort to go down and choose there and then?
this is just not right and my local friend even told me that i would act like that soon, but im sure i wont as i would rather go down there and enjoy the pleasure of shopping.
what do you guys think of this?
welcome isabel... nya hahaha brutus,....
HHMmm.... CSI.. Prison Break.. great series..
Cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heard your wife left you,
How upset you must be.
But don't fret about it...
She moved in with me.
i see, thanks
m isabel
chuckles silently inside.....
"csi" as in crime scene investigation?
m isabel
the only shop in my near vicinity that I dont honk at is the butcher's. he's huge, and he almost always has a meat cleaver on him. I'm not messing with that..
Please don't ever "quit", "retire", or "get banned" from QL. Your posts made my day today!
lol csi lmao
corleone, get your pants on before you hit the road.
m isabel
csi at corleone
http://radiationawareness.blogspot.com/
http://best-indianrecipes.blogspot.com/
YOU DONT KNOW ME, DONT EVEN TRY !!!
well.. i dont know bout the other people who honk, but in my case its coz i havent got any pants on..
i mean i dont go to the souq and honk in front of shops now do i?... just the corner store, or one a few blocks away. and since its so close, who's going to bother finding suitable pants i say...
its hard enough finding my keys.. and sandals. but sunglasses always a must.
......Especially when the weather is hot and humid but u have to give a big tip. so that mean u will for that serves and not slave the delivery boy. Btw I forgot to mention that they must park properly and there is no need to keep the hand on the horn just one time is enough also sometimes no need for horning.
car horn honking (to shop) is disturbing, fine should be implemented
m isabel
you are right. there is a fine of 300 for honking at shops.I wonder if it's ever will be enforced.
I seem to remember there was a law introduced that banned the honking of horns. I might be wrong though.
Chinese Rice Wine is mostly consumed by the Older Chinese Generation :)
Ban Spoon Feeding not Me
Yeah Charan I'll second u on that. Its pretty strong! I just had one shot of it and it gave me a headache!
I dream of a better tomorrow where Chickens can cross the Road without having their motives questioned - Unknown
deedee I think the law you may be referring to is the newspaper guys at the roundabouts.
Blocking the traffic may warrant a ticket if you do not move your car but no law for honking outside the shop.
they had passed a law making it illegal to stop and block traffic and honk at a shop? Not that laws really matter here when they are never enforced.
Chinese Rice Wine is a poor man's drink. consuming 185ml is enough for you to go out of your mind :)
Ban Spoon Feeding not Me
well, looks like its a common things to do over here, maybe i shall try that later whenever i felt my legs are too heavy~
Marhabtein I think u've finally met ur match! Reason to celebrate eh? Like u needed one:)
Personally I dont like Chinese rice wine... its too stinky like fenny..
I dream of a better tomorrow where Chickens can cross the Road without having their motives questioned - Unknown
Its okay, we can pick u up and on the way drive into Carrefour - literally. Yippeeeeeeeeeee.......the tonic aisle is just wide enuff for the bentley! hic!
... Please have your driver return my drunken self home afterwards.... I will also have him stop at the shop so we can honk and purchase needless items from the poor people standing at the door and ofcourse, will tip heavily (probably because I still cant separate the denominations of money properly!).
Brin
Agreed, it's lazy not to get out of the car BUT that is what they do here and the shops employ people specifically to deal with customers in their cars. So the customers are happy, the shop owners are happy, the staff are happy. Let 'em get on with it.
Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeee so much interest in booze! Luv it! Never tried Chinese Rice wine - does it mix with gin at all? Is it good in rice pudding? Do tell! Hic!
I like a Bottle of Chinese Rice Wine. Haven't tasted for more than 4 years now :(
Ban Spoon Feeding not Me
Thats the spirit! ( or is that spirits, gin vodka etc.....wotevva eh! ) Yippeeeeee loadsa gin still left at my place Hic!
I will call that the GVW Club....
Free drinks for all!
I want Ramadan to end! That way I can go out and
drink again (ok, in public!).... I can happily go and honk at at shops to service my lazy butt.... I can be my gluttonness self once again!
Brin
Are you kidding! The service everywhere in UK is appalling so there really is no reason - ever - to tip.
Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Ban tipping - spend it on Gin! Hic!
I am not sure how it is condescending to tip someone.... try not tipping in the UK and see what happens.
Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee a convert! I have a fan club on QL - care to join! The Gin is free.......hic! What day is it? Dunno.
....I could definately use it! :)
Brin
welcome to Doha... ehehehhe
Hehehehe.......dontcha just lurve being wound up.....it is very charitable - nay - condescending of you - to tip the poor brown people. I have a car yes - oh and a driver - never sober enuff to drive these days....hic! Back to the gin...........Yippeeeeeee another QL Luvvie with his gander up! looooool
I wonder if Marhabtain even has a car? If the rest of us are so lazy and he's definately not, I assume then that he uses his legs to walk everywhere he needs to go in Doha.. and Im confident, based on his comments, he's never used a drive-thru (or probably even had fast food) :).
Cars are lazy and a luxury that we're used to now. When we park at a mall, naturally everyone tries to find the closest parking stall to the entrance... why? laziness and convenience. Does anyone go to Fast Food places? 9 out of 10 times... its simply out of convenience / laziness because we dont want to cook. And heaven forbid we actually would use a drive thru (which a few self righteous ones on this site Im sure would never admit to doing... right?.
Amoud is right....the tipping is a big part of it. We tip the guys at the gas pump, at the shop who come to our cars, the car washers at the mall, etc. Why? because not only have they made it convenient for our lazy butts by doing something for us, but these guys make virtually nothing... Im perfectly happy to give the guys 5-10 Riyal.
Brin
I honk whenever I see a western expat lady on the Road or Driving a car in front of me :)
Ban Spoon Feeding not Me
An Ode to Fatties stuck in their cars!
I am in a Qatar state of mind,
Long black hair and a huge behind,
I drive to the shops for I am a slob,
To buy yet more doughnuts to shove in my gob.
I honk my car horn until they come out,
With tonics galore to help cure my gout,
I give them no tip for this is their job,
To pander the needs of a great big fat slob.
Wordsworth 1896
Hic and yippeeeeeeeeeeeeee - anuvva great ODE! I deserve a Gin!
Did you bother to ask yourself why these shops have extra employees hanging around the door? I think there are lots of things that we can't comprehend if we were to live in your country/community but guess what....we just have to be tolerant and move on.
We are here to provide a service hence we should stick to that and stop this “inquisitive” farce of trying to wonder/judge/rationalize why/how the locals behave in THEIR country.
I used to think this was ridiculous, but I also do it now, and I tip the guy nicely for his efforts.
Just because we think it is wrong, these guys thrive off the tip money as Tallg said. This is a whole different society with a completely different set of mores. As you may have noticed, queuing is a relatively new thing here in some parts, whereas back home if a persons just stands somewhere for no apparent reason you will find a line up a mile long.
If the guys dont like to do it, they just dont come out of the shops, simple. I have a KFC beside my house that actually has a sign for Car Hop Service.
There you go marhabtain ... another gin and tonic for you :)
Or might be, they hav not controlled and did a lot of Potty in their CAR,
tat might be one of the reason they done wanna come out of their CAR ... !!!
There are lazy dumb fat people in Rome too?
Personaly I find it an insult. The Lord has given you two legs, go and use them. These poor guys rush out to take the order, then go and get the items, then go and get the change..In the meanwhile, the shop front is blocked with cars parked in all directions..
When you are in rome ...
Its usually the gross and the disgustingly fat who cant get out of their cars to enter shops. They should be ignored and left to honk all they want. Lazy arrogance and nothing else. Park your car and WALK!
I've been here just over a month and Im already doing it.... more for a pack of cigarettes or a redbull ... I had this discussion with one of my colleagues and my assumption was that they wouldn't come out if it was a woman....he said it would be completely the opposite... If a woman they'd run out there.... and sure enough, thats what happens. I can even do it at my laundry service too (more because I can't get parking there). I think its very cool.
Brin
or they just plain lazy walking out of their car ....
Some times they honk because they cannot find parking ,,,
...You can't mean what you say unless you can say what you mean...
The pros and cons of this were discussed in some depth a while ago. The main argument for it was that the guys make a lot from the tips these 'honkers' give them. You may be able to find the thread using the search box.