July 16, 2008 4:39 AM
So You Think You Can Speak English?: Sign Here.
I went to buy a new pair of Shaq's Li Ning sneakers today down on Wangfujing. Their three-level store is pretty impressive, with roaming salesmen who actually speak a bit of English. But when I approached the counter to make my purchases, I ran into a bit of trouble.See, on the back of my credit card, instead of signing my name, I've written the words "Ask for I.D." It's supposed to be effective at stopping card theft, but only when the cashier bothers to check it (and in the States, that happens far too infrequently). But the Chinese are quite diligent about matching the signature on the card to the one on the receipt.
So I signed the receipt as usual, and then the cashier tried to match up my signature to the words "Ask for I.D." The two really don't look much alike. I explained to her the situation and showed her my driver's license, which carries my signature. That didn't seem to help.
She called over a salesperson who explained in English, "She wants you to sign like it says on the card." I explained again that what was on the card was not my signature. He relayed this to the cashier, and she shook her head. "Yes," he said, "but please, just sign like it says on the card."
Somewhat bewildered, I crossed out my signature and wrote, in block letters, "Ask for I.D." on the receipt.
"Okay?" I asked the cashier.
"Yes, okay," she said.
