Koreans, I have decided, are definitely “bouge-etto.” For all their bowing, manners, and technology, there are a few things that just escape them.
Korea is a beautiful and modern country. The sidewalks are clean and there are computerized bus stops on every corner. The people, for the most part, are well dressed and educated. Everything looks great until you see some guy, in a well-tailored suit no less, hacking and spitting on the sidewalk like it’s a back alley in Calcutta. Bouge-etto!
Another time that Koreans let their bouge-etto out is at the grocery store. Koreans simply can not handle free samples. When the sample lady comes out, Koreans will grab two at a time like refugees grabbing the last bag of rations from a Red Cross worker. When this happens, it’s best to step back and not get in their way because you will get hurt.
Standing in line is another act that is just beyond Koreans. You have to be super aggressive to stand in line or someone will cut in front of you like it’s nothing. They won’t slink in or wait for you to get distracted. They just waltz in front of you like you were holding their spot for them.
To combat the line cutting, many places make you take a number. You take the number from a little machine and wait for your number to flash on a screen above the next available rep. This is common at banks and movie theaters.
The #1 place that Koreans really show how bouge-etto they are is at Costco. Costco is considered an upper-middle class store in Korea. This is because Costco charges a membership fee and stocks mostly higher priced import products. So, the Koreans who go to Costco tend to be fairly well-off. However, you wouldn’t know it from the way they act at Costco.
Once they are at Costco, it is a Korean free for all. They will:
Grab free samples like they are starving
Rummage through your cart because you’re foreign and they want to see what you got
and
Steal onions and mustard from the Costco food court
Stealing the hotdog onions and mustard from the Costco food court is a big thing in Daejeon. It’s really weird to watch. Here is what most families do:
1. Buy something from the food court so that they can get a plate. Maybe they’ll get a $2 chicken bake to share among four people.
2. Eat the chicken bake and dispose of everything except the plate.
3. Take the empty plate to the condiment bar and load it up with the chopped onions for the hotdogs.
4. Add about ½ a cup of mustard (or ketchup but, mustard is the most popular) to the plate full of onions.
5. Eat the mixture with a spoon.
Personally, I think it looks disgusting. Koreans, however, seem to love it. They will sit in the food court and eat plates full of onions and mustard like it’s a delicacy.
Now, the above steps were for the average Korean who wants to steal onions and mustard. There are, of course, the hardcore who not only steal onions and mustard to eat in the food court but, also manage to steal onions and mustard to take home and eat. That takes more planning but, I have seen it done.
Those who steal onions and mustard to eat at home tend to be old ladies. I’m sure others do it too but, I have only witnessed old ladies doing it. Here is what they do:
1. Wait for the line of people at the food pick-up window to get long.
2. While the clerk is serving someone else, reach in and grab a couple of the sheets of foil used to wrap up hotdogs and slices of pizza.
3. Fill the stolen foil with stolen onions and mustard.
The people that do this tend to not even bother to buy anything. So, there is no debate as to whether they are stealing or not. It really is “bouge-etto.”
Koreans do have a few things that they excel at. I am always amazed that here, stores will put unattended tables full of merchandise outside and no one steals it. In most parts of the world, those unattended items would be gone. I am also amazed by the water coolers in public places. In the US, someone would have vandalized the water cooler tucked into a corner of the subway station. At the very least, someone would have stolen the supply of paper cups. This is definitely the bougie part of “bouge-etto.
Hopefully, as time goes on, Koreans will start to lose the ghetto and increase the bougie because, right now, they are just “bouge-etto.”
** Update (9/21/2017): The LA Times published a story on September 19, 2017 about the popularity of the onions and ketchup/mustard dish at Korean Costco. So, I was almost 7 years ahead of them.
The Onion Dispenser at the Costco Food Court
The Mustard & Ketchup at the Costco Food Court
A Woman Mixing Up a Plate of Onions & Mustard at the Costco Food Court
