The Irony of Loyalty

Friday afternoon, it was. There is a job fair being held in SM Mall of Asia and my girlfriend wanted to go there, to be able to pass out her resume. It is my day off of work so I decided to go with her. After she's done, we decided to take a quick stroll around the mall just to check out some of the new stores. We have missed this place after all. It's been years since we last saw this mall. But that's another story.

Our last stop was National Book Store. Not my favorite book store but for some reason I am always drawn to it whenever I see it. Maybe it's the sight of so many books that fascinate me. And maybe because ever since I was a kid, I have known National Book Store as this wonderful place where books live. And so unconsciously, I might've developed loyalty to them.

Reading books have been quite a passive habit for me nowadays. I used to be very a very zealous reader when I was young. Magazines, encyclopedias, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew usually kills a lazy afternoon for me. But then I discovered the wonders and fun brought by video games. And so those days are now gone, like a slice of my favorite chocolate cake. I know, that's a bad comparison :P


I still read books though whenever I find time. Sometimes during breaks. Sometimes before going to sleep. Sometime when I'm bored after playing PSP. And I still continue to buy books even though some of them are left untouched, collecting dust in my little bookshelf. The last book that I bought was a hard-bound A Game of Thrones for my girlfriend, a present for her birthday, and a paperback one for me. I also bought a graphic novel called Skyworld Vol.1. It was a good read. So good in fact that I decided to buy the second volume. That's the same reason why we decided to visit the book store.

We went inside, place is busy as usual. They don't just sell books, the sell office and school supplies as well. After a few minutes, we saw Skyworld Vol. 2, paid for it and done deal.

We were both tired so we decided to go home, already satisfied with the Skyworld purchase. Or so we thought.

On our way out, the security scanner suddenly beeped. Naturally, the guard stopped us. I thought it was the item that we bought so I handed it to the guard. It was not, it was still beeping. The guard isolated it by letting my girlfriend's bag through then my bag. And I remember, I brought the A Game of Thrones book with me. The guard checked my bag and it was there, wrapped in a National Book Store bag. The guard grabbed and unwrapped it and immediately asked me for the receipt. So I said that I don't have it. He said they will have the book scanned for checking and called another security personnel. This man is a bit skinny and probably around 4 inches taller than me. Judging from the way he asked me his next questions, he already concluded that I stole the book.

He asked if I have the receipt. I said I don't have it, that I don't see any reason why I should have brought the receipt with me because I have bought that book from Shangri-La two weeks before. Then I remember that I DIDN'T BUY IT FROM SHANGRI-LA, I bought it from SM Megamall. So to prevent further damage, I had to correct myself. And like what I said earlier, this man already has his conclusions up. Just like any other suspicious-minded security guard, he said "I thought you said you bought it from Shangri-La, now you're saying you bought it from Megamall?" In defense, I said that the day I bought the book, I had to go to two different National Book Store branches, Shangri-La and Megamall. I said that I had written my name there and I even wrote the date that I purchased the book.

He then asked again for the receipt. He said that I should have brought it because we're carrying a book purchased from them. And I had to say it again, that I don't see any reason why I should've brought it with me. He then countered by saying that we should've presented the book to the other guard, knowing that we're carrying a "book" and we are about to enter a "book store". So I said, I didn't know that we had to present our bags to the guard in the first place. We just walked right in and looked for the comic book. He said that it is their protocol, that it is standard to them. From that point, I knew that his logic is fucked up and that if we (me and my girlfriend) pushed on with the arguments, he's going to eventually fall and concede.

I said that how should I know that they have such rule. For them it is their rule, but we do not care about their rule since we do not know it in the first place. And besides, there are no notes or posters in their store stating said rule. I gave him an example. What if it is my first time entering their store and I brought my book with me? He responded by saying "we will still ask you for the receipt". I then said "What if this book is a gift to me, I don't have the receipt with me. Then I'm fucked?" He didn't respond.

Perhaps not wanting to have his image as a security personnel crushed, he kept on pushing his argument that it is their protocol, that I should have presented the book when we entered the store. At this point, my girlfriend who's arguing with him as well, is already shaking. You can tell by looking at her that she's really angry by how stupid that guard is responding to our questions.

To cut the argument, I asked how are we going to settle this. We already wasted several minutes arguing with him for nothing. And he clearly doesn't get our point. He said "well the book has your name in it and that is proof enough that it is yours." At that point, I knew he conceded. He can't come up with decent arguments. Not satisfied with it, my girlfriend then asked him "what if we had not wrote our name in there?" She said that it is not good enough that it is proof. Anyone can write their name on the book, and write it inside the store itself. We wanted a solid proof. Proof that will save us from the scandal and humiliation we're experiencing at that point. Imagine, everyone has their attention on us. The cashier line is near the gate so everyone in the line waiting is looking at us. We wanted something solid, like an inventory list. Maybe they can check their database or call Megamall to confirm that the book has been indeed purchased from them. He can't come up with any response, and said that the name is proof enough. Again not satisfied with it, we asked for his supervisor.

I didn't know I was shaking as well. I took a sip from the water bottle I was holding and noticed that my hands were shaking. My mouth is ridiculously dry that it felt I had eaten an overripe apple. One guy said that we should call it, that the guy clearly doesn't know what he's talking about and that our conversation was all bullcrap.

His supervisor came. She was short, probably around 5 feet tall. She's wearing a brown polka dot silk dress with a blue jacket on top. She's probably in her mid 50s. She asked us if the book was ours. I confirmed that it is indeed ours, that I bought it from Megamall. I told her the rebuttals and arguments that her guard is throwing at us, that it doesn't make sense. She asked us if our bags had been checked when we initially entered the store. Our bags were not checked. We just walked right in. She said that this is where the fault lies, the guard should've asked for our bags when we entered so that they can have it noted down. I said that I bought it from Megamall. From that point, their security tag should've been deactivated already. I told them that it seems their security has holes in them and that their alarms are not in sync. She agreed. I asked again for proof that it is indeed our book. My girlfriend wanted them to say it in public that is indeed ours. She said that she had called and had it checked, that they had no stock of the said book. That it is proof that it is indeed ours.

My girlfriend continued to scold them about their security, the humiliation it brought us, that they should put posters about their "protocol", have the guards check all customer's bags prior to entering the store and the time wasted arguing with the guards. I decided that it was already settled. That it's time for us to go. She agreed. Before we left, I told them that almost all our books are from National Book Store and that this has caused us a lot of inconvenience. She acknowledged and apologized for it. We got the book, our bags and left the store, still shaking a bit from all that arguing.

My girlfriend said that if not for the fact that the supervisor was an elderly, we would have demanded something more. Probably a public apology or something along those lines. We sat on one of the cement benches outside and talked about it for a few more minutes. We've calmed down and decided to call it a day.

We're still not over this and might call National Book Store about it. I think they owe us an apology. And we believe that we can sue them for public scandal. We might be overreacting but hey, customers are always right. I'll do a bit more thinking about it and will decide if I'm going to call them or not. It's possible that this will cause more hassles than what we can gain. Or maybe not, who knows.

I sent a message to them on their Facebook page. Up until now, they still haven't responded.