STOMPer Choppy alleges that this woman and her male friend took up seats which the STOMPer ¡®choped¡¯ with tissue paper at the Marina Square food court, even though they were told that the seats were taken later on.
In an email to STOMP today (Mar 23), the STOMPer wrote:
¡°I have a bad encounter with this woman and her male friend during lunchtime at Marina Square food court.
¡°I know that there are two different camps on the issue of ¡®choping¡¯ seats using tissue paper.
¡°I belong to the ¡®local¡¯ team (agreeing to use tissue paper) as this has been the culture in Singapore for many years.
¡°During the usual lunchtime crowd, it is not uncommon to see the empty tables being reserved by packets of tissue paper. Likewise, I did so by putting two packets there and went on to buy my lunch.
When I came back, this woman and a guy were sitting on my table.
¡°I told him politely that the seats were taken.
¡°He was not appalled but went on to retaliate that it was only occupied by twp packets of tissue paper.
¡°In a calm mode, I remarked that he was rude. He went on to comment that we were discourteous instead.
¡°Not wanting to prolong the argument, I stopped by saying ¡®never mind¡¯.
¡°He went on to tell his friend that he read about this issue in the papers and internet and how much he disagreed with those in the ¡®local¡¯ camp.
¡°Subsequently, after lamenting for a good five minutes, he shut his mouth and went on his own to grab his lunch.
¡°My female companion came along and took the seat beside the lady but this lady had the cheek to tell her that the seats were all taken.
¡°I told her bluntly that I have warned her about the taken seats prior to this. She went on to argue that we were wrong.
The STOMPer added that both parties snapped pictures of each other.
The STOMPer also claimed that this woman walked off after the STOMPer and his friend continued to ignore whilst they were having their lunch.
¡°But before she left, she continued her grumblings and lamented how ashamed she felt being a Singaporean. I was polite and only bade her goodbye.
¡°I would like to clarify that there are no rights or wrongs in this issue.
¡°However, having live in and knowing about this culture, I have learnt to embrace it. As mentioned earlier, it is not uncommon to see such sights.¡±
In an email to STOMP today (Mar 23), the STOMPer wrote:
¡°I have a bad encounter with this woman and her male friend during lunchtime at Marina Square food court.
¡°I know that there are two different camps on the issue of ¡®choping¡¯ seats using tissue paper.
¡°I belong to the ¡®local¡¯ team (agreeing to use tissue paper) as this has been the culture in Singapore for many years.
¡°During the usual lunchtime crowd, it is not uncommon to see the empty tables being reserved by packets of tissue paper. Likewise, I did so by putting two packets there and went on to buy my lunch.
When I came back, this woman and a guy were sitting on my table.
¡°I told him politely that the seats were taken.
¡°He was not appalled but went on to retaliate that it was only occupied by twp packets of tissue paper.
¡°In a calm mode, I remarked that he was rude. He went on to comment that we were discourteous instead.
¡°Not wanting to prolong the argument, I stopped by saying ¡®never mind¡¯.
¡°He went on to tell his friend that he read about this issue in the papers and internet and how much he disagreed with those in the ¡®local¡¯ camp.
¡°Subsequently, after lamenting for a good five minutes, he shut his mouth and went on his own to grab his lunch.
¡°My female companion came along and took the seat beside the lady but this lady had the cheek to tell her that the seats were all taken.
¡°I told her bluntly that I have warned her about the taken seats prior to this. She went on to argue that we were wrong.
The STOMPer added that both parties snapped pictures of each other.
The STOMPer also claimed that this woman walked off after the STOMPer and his friend continued to ignore whilst they were having their lunch.
¡°But before she left, she continued her grumblings and lamented how ashamed she felt being a Singaporean. I was polite and only bade her goodbye.
¡°I would like to clarify that there are no rights or wrongs in this issue.
¡°However, having live in and knowing about this culture, I have learnt to embrace it. As mentioned earlier, it is not uncommon to see such sights.¡±
