Okay, I just need to get this off my chest. I was just at the supermarket buying some grocery. When I got to the checkout line, I found four or five other customers in front of me. So I waited patiently until it was my turn to pay.
Then some Cambodian girl came out of nowhere with her basket of items and just cut in front of me like I wasn't there. The cashier noticed the infraction and said a few words to the cutter as she was placing her items on the counter. But the cashier proceeded to check out the cutter anyway, even as I was complaining to her.
When the clerk got to me she explained to me she tells cutters to stand in line all the time, but they never listened. I told her that as a Cambodian American I felt really embarrassed to see fellow Khmers doing that sort of thing.
I then handed her a $100 bill for me grocery, and she gave me some change back. Normally, I count the change, but this time I just pocketed the money as I was a bit upset by the incident.
When I got home and took the change out my pocket, I discovered that I was short-changed by $10! So, as it turned out, the cashier, pretending to sympathize with my grievance, not only proceeded to check out the cutter, but also took advantage of the distraction to cheat me out of ten dollars.
Amazing!
Ten dollars is not that big of a deal, but it's a drop of water in the sea of corruption that has become part of the culture.