I am So American

           I am so not Haitian.  I went to a bookstore the other day because I wanted to see what a Haitian bookstore looked like.  Now, I wasn’t expecting Borders or Barnes and Noble, but I sure wasn’t expecting what I got.

            I asked Gertrude whether Haiti had bookstores where you could go in, browse, look at books.  She said of course.  I asked her about the Maison Henri des Champs.  She said of course; you can go in and look around at the books, pick what you want. 

            Yea, not so much.

            I walked in and was greeted by a man in a suit.  I told him I wanted to buy some books, so he took me to an office.  A lady in there gave me a catalog to look through.  Most of the books were school textbooks for the different years.  I guess when it is time to buy books for school, parents and/or teachers go to this store and buy the needed books.  It took about five minutes before I figured out that the “literature” section was at the very back.  After reading descriptions of several books, I checked to see whether I could buy just one of a book and not have to buy a class set or something.  I could buy just one.

            The next step was to give my order to the lady so that she could enter it into the computer.  I thought she asked me if I wanted to see the books I’d chosen, so I said “yes.”  She took me out into the room and brought me a stack of books to peruse.  I guess I was supposed to look through that pile and choose more.  So I did.  Instead of getting just five books, I ended up with ten because I didn't want to admit I didn't understand. Oh well.

            Back to the office to add the books to my list.  Then, she had to take the list to the cashier so that I could pay for them.  Issues with my credit card caused a snag.  I told the cashier that the credit card lady said to type in my number manually.  The cashier said that that couldn’t be done.  I said, yes, it can, because the lady on the phone just said it could be done.  Well, in Haiti, apparently, one cannot type the numbers in manually instead of swiping the card.  So, she didn't punch in the numbers.

            The office lady took me back to her office and said if the bank gave approval then they could do the transaction the old fashioned way.  In the States, the store would call the bank, etc.  That’s because in the States, there are telephones with working phone lines.  Not in Haiti.  No, I had to provide the phone and the minutes before they would make the call.  It eventually worked, and I could buy my 10 books. 

            But, the receipt that proved I had paid for the books was taken to another set of ladies who then climbed up on ladders to grab the books I needed.  One lady grabbed a copy of each book while the other lady checked the books against the list.  Only then was I given the books.  Before I could leave, though, I had to check the titles against the list.  I explained that I didn’t have to, that I trusted them.  But, they insisted.  So I did.

            That whole experience took 1 ½ hours.   I could have done that in 20 minutes in the States.

            There has to be some sort of compromise between American independence and the “I do everything for myself” mentality and the Haitian approach of “everything must be broken down into as many steps as possible.”  Can we find some balance, please?