Notes » April 2003

Ducks and Mynahs

Many stores in Hong Kong place employees outside the store to announce the amazing deals they have going on inside.

It occured to me what the constant patter of their pitches sounds like:

Ducks ... they sound like quacking ducks.

Employees inside the shops all sound the same. When I enter, one or more give me an über-cheerful greeting:

Halow!

Or more often: Halowwelcome!

That's the way they pronounce it. It comes out rapid-fire, sounding ever-so-much like a mynah bird.

The instant I step out the door, I'm given a chorus of farewells:

Thankyoubyebye!

It's all run together as one word, very fast, as though they'll explode if they don't get it out quick enough. Sometimes they'll drag out the end, in the Cantonese way:

Byebyyyyyyyyye!

Is there some secret, mandatory course retail employees are forced to take before they are loosed on unsuspecting consumers?

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