Cashier

I’m taking a short break from this proposal writing. A lot of editing needs to be done. As usual need to distract myself a bit, so I can fully refocus on this task later.

I went to Summer Mall this morning, for our assignment. This was my only third time going there, despite the fact that I didn’t go back for my semester break. I knew some people went there twice a week, even thrice a week.

We got what we needed, and did some shopping later. When I was about to pay, I noticed a strange situation. The cashier that I was approaching was a supermodel. I backtracked and changed into another lane, but the same thing was happening. The cashier over there was also a supermodel.   

In fact, almost all the cashiers there were very good looking, supermodel-like.

Something was not right. Something was not in place.

In economy, there is this phenomenon termed “Hot Waitress Economic Index”. I’m not so sure about the plausibility of this theory, but it had already featured in prominent publications such as CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. That speaks volume about its popularity.

According to this theory, when we see waitresses, or to some extent baristas and cashiers, are all good looking, that means something is wrong with our economic condition. It's some kind of economic indicator. In simpler word, when waitress / barista / cashier appears to be very good looking, it's a good indication that our economy is spiraling downward, it’s going into uncertainty.

It happened in Penang circa 2009, when suddenly there was a surge of attractive women filling the positions in various hypermarkets and shopping malls. We had a recession in 2008, so either they were forced to work there after being retrenched, or their parents were retrenched and they were forced to get out from the comfort of their home to find extra money, I was not so sure. But it did happen.     

I knew that this theory is vaguely sexist in nature. Maybe a large majority of women in Sarawak is attractive, that could be the explanation of that strange phenomenon. Or maybe it was a pure coincidence. Or maybe I was half awaken...because I slept very late the night before. Who knows.  

But I heard that sirap in pavilion was already seeing a price hike. And prices everywhere are shooting to the rooftop, literally. I am yet to witness a major price increment myself, because I rarely bought items, but I think there is some truth in it. No major price hike, but there exists a price hike in several items.

And today I made one of my best friends moody. I promised to go out for a pizza together, but had it postponed for two weeks. I think she was disappointed. Maybe next week would be ok…for now, this proposal is killing me.

Almost forgot about my proposal…time to refocus.