'Yes Madam'

Today I (Em) had an unexpected treasure hunt.... The lights went off while I was shopping and so I asked the staff – ‘Will they go back on again and can I carry on shopping?’ ‘Oh yes Madam’ came the reply. So I carried on shopping, using the torch on my phone to ‘hunt’ for goodies. It was only after a while I noticed that I was the only person that seemed to still shopping. I asked again ‘Is it OK – are the tills open for me to pay? ‘Yes Madam ‘ came the reply again. After about 10 more minutes a lady approached and very politely said ‘ Are you still shopping madam?’ It was at this point I remember somebody telling me that Zambians like to please – sometimes even if the answer should be ‘No’ they would say yes to make you happy! So I changed my question to ‘Shall I leave the store and pay?” ‘Yes Madam’ came the reply again – When I got to the checkout the entire staff were waiting for me all around 1 checkout point. I put my items through very quickly! And then said sheepishly ‘I’ve only been in Zambia 2 weeks – I’ll know better next time’. The reply ‘Yes madam!!”