“The Coto Shirt Acquisition” - My greatest accomplishment in Spanish (so far)
Before you read this, you must understand the situation.
1. Coto SUCKS! To be honest, if you polled 1,000 Argentines: 900 would be late, but ALL would agree that Coto SUCKS!
2. It is a necessary-evil when you live in Recoleta (a neighborhood in Buenos Aires) because it is a supermercado (huge grocery store) where you buy all of your beer & meat (A.K.A. Necessities)
3. It is slower than molasses. No matter what you go there for, plan on an hour. There are a number of reasons why it is slow.
First, MONEDAS (change: in coins) are hard to come by in Buenos Aires because there is high demand (for buses) and low supply. So everytime you check-out, they ask you if you have exact or you have to wait 5 more minutes for the manager to bring it. NOTE: This is so severe that they have underground change rings. I.E. If you are in the know, you can go to a certain kiosko (convenience store) and ask for an alfajor (shitty-tasting sugar cookie) then pay with 10 pesos and you will receive an alfajor bag with change in it. SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS!
Second, the employees don’t give a shit. The cashiers sit on chairs and swipe like they are getting paid by the number of seconds in between “beeps.”
Then, after all that bullshit…you bag it yourself!
4. Last but not least, all of my dialogue with the Coto staff was in Spanish.
Now, I have chosen to share the story through a chat I had with a good friend of my after my great success. He has be kind enough to let me share his comments with you. Please be aware, content may be vulgar—I cannot remember because I am not reading this again.
It started with a late-night chat that continued the next day.
NOTE: In order to preserve its authenticity, NO grammar, punctuation, or capitalization have been corrected except for an occasional period.
