staring at the sun

"I'd like to buy stamps for Europe."
"Inside or outside?"
"Eeeeh, Europe."
"I know, but inside or outside?"
"Outside of the Netherlands, inside of Europe."
"Ok."

The lady is handing me a set of 5 stamps for Europe. Looks good. I pay. But wait, something is wrong...

"This is a bit strange. This is 4x 77 cents and 1x 75 cents."

The lady is looking at me like I'm an alien.

"What?"
"It's not normal. There should be 5x 77 cents."

She seems to be really puzzled. But I have the impression that it is more about why I have a problem with it than because of the bizarre fact that on a printed set of stamp-stickers one stamp has a different value than the others.

"Oh, maybe they put an old stamp on it."

An old stamp?!
The guy next to me is really interested in what is happening. He explains like it is the most normal thing in the world:

"You will have to buy extra stamps for a few cents."
"What?!!"
"You will just have to buy extra stamps."
"But when I buy stamps for a certain purpose I just want to use them and not buy extra ones!"

The lady behind the desk makes a smart comment:

"But it's only five cents difference."

Five?! I look at her and it must be obvious that I don't understand what she is saying...

"Would you like to have another set?"
"Yes, please!"

She is handing me another set of stamps and I'm very relieved that it is a regular one. Shaking my head I leave the store.

Labels: Leben