Ignorance

A semi-elderly woman held up two packets of our new product range.

Exhibit A - paper soap. Exhibit B - antibacterial paper soap.

She asked me what the difference was. I obliged by pointing out the bleeding obvious. "This one here's antibacterial." I said.

She scoffed. "They're soap. Anything that gets rid of dirt is antibacterial." Here's someone who can't distinguish between a bit of mud and Staphylococcus aureus.

I explained that antibacterial soaps and washes contain chemicals that kill bacteria.

"Oh, I know what it is." She interrupted. "It's eucalyptus oil. It's a bunch of crap, I tell you."

"Erm ... no, not eucalyptus oil."

"Then what?"

"Triclosan, chlorhexidine, alchohol?"

"What?"

"Never mind."

She looked at me pityingly. "It's a scam. It's all just marketing. Soap's soap, that's all there is."

I took that as my cue to give up and let the lady contract bacterial infections at her own leisure.

Funnier was the American who walked into the pharmacy and in all seriousness ordered a milkshake.

After Glenda explained that contrary to what the name may suggest, there is in fact a difference between a "pharmacy" and a "drug-store", and that we are the former, the man remarked that our country was "strange" and left. Coincidentally, an American girl was queueing behind him, and informed us that U.S. drug-stores have stopped serving milkshakes about half a century ago.

What I find interesting is that someone could be stupid enough to walk into a pharmacy for a milkshake when it's surrounded by two coffee bars, one supermarket, one juice bar and one actual drug-store.

Methinks somebody's neurons are misfiring.