Ordinary Gweilo

I went into to a stationery shop to buy a toner cartridge for my printer.  A thimble-full of ink for only HK$100 – thanks very much, people who design printers.

What amused me was that the shop had used plastic ties in an attempt to prevent customers from stealing these hugely over-priced items.

Which was not very effective, because

• This is a stationery stop, so if you really wanted to cut the plastic it’s not exactly a problem to find a pair of scissors.
• An even simpler solution is to open the box, and take out the toner cartridge.  The box is still securely attached to the fixture, but the toner cartridge has gone.  Yes, you can do this – I opened the box to check that it was the right cartridge.  Then I put back and had to ask the staff to come with their special pair of scissors so I could buy it.

Good thinking, that man.