Self Service - Not

Self service has not come to Costa Rica yet! Having someone wait on you can be very nice. Sometimes it’s aggravating having a “helpful” clerk follow you around while you shop. In many places, like the hardware store or the pharmacy, the merchandise is not out for you to see and touch. It is thus necessary to explain to the clerk, in Spanish, what you would like to purchase. The clerk then goes to the back to find the item for you. Once the item has been located and you have agreed to buy it, the clerk writes up a sales slip, which you take to the caja (cashier) and pay. The cashier takes your colones, gives you change, stamps the sales slip paid. You then take the paid sales slip back to the sales clerk, who packages your merchandise and gives it to you. Sometimes instead of going back to the sales clerk, you go to the paquette desk to retrieve your stuff. In the case of the Christmas gifts I bought today, after returning to my sales clerk, I found that I was supposed to go to the line at the paquette and wait while the sales clerk looked in the back for the boxes. While standing in line, I saw that other customers were getting their purchases gift wrapped and asked if I could get mine wrapped too. Just like any big store in any big city during Christmas week, I thought. When it was my turn, one of the bubbly young women spent about fifteen minutes meticulously wrapping my four gifts with beautiful paper and fancy ribbons. When she was finished, they were a work of art. I said yes to the gift tags, she smiled appreciatively when I told her they were muy bonito, and wrote me up another sales slip, for the wrapping, which I then took to the caja, paid 300 colones ($.80), obtained my stamped slip, returned to the paquette, and obtained my gifts. When you're accustomed to self service, it all seems a bit awkward and time consuming. But here it's the way it's done, you get a lot of service, you learn patience, people smile and say friendly things, and it doesn't cost much.