SINGAPORE: A father took to social media on Thursday (Feb 27) to express his surprise after his 20-year-old son claimed that he was charged extra for adding curry sauce to his rice at a mixed rice stall. “Guys, that day my 20-year-old son told me that the mixed rice stall opposite his workplace told him that by adding curry sauce to his rice, he must pay extra,” the concerned parents wrote. “He ordered dishes of course.”
“I got a shock of my life, I never encountered that before,” he added. “I only heard that certain popular noodle stalls charge you extra if you want extra chilli. I am unsure if they see my son is quite young or what. If they are charging everyone, then I have nothing to say. Just wonder if you guys encountered adding curry sauce or braised pork sauce needs to add money.”
From 50 cents to $1 for extra chili to being charged the same amount for another serving of gravy, a handful of online users took to the comments section to share their own similar experiences. “Had a similar experience at the Vivo City Kopitiam foodcourt with a vegetarian stall,” one wrote. “Ordered fried bee hoon with dishes. The stall holder asked if I wanted gravy over the bee hoon so I said okay. When he billed me he added $1 for the gravy! I wasn’t informed of the additional charge so when I asked him he just shrugged it off. Never patronise that stall again after this bad experience.”
“Sauce and gravy should be free as they have always been,” said another netizen, “Just walk away if the seller tries to charge for sauce and gravy. Don’t pay, just cancel the order and walk away.”
A third would have taken a more proactive approach. “Sounds….petty,” she said. “Are they not making enough money? Or maybe the rental has risen and they are struggling…so these ‘misc charges’ are being included? You could ask them like…’What am I paying for? Do you have a breakdown? Do you measure by quantity? And if they do, then how are they measuring it?’ Who knows, they may just get tired of your questions and give it for free. You never know. Psychological warfare at ground level.”
Still, one said it was odd that the stall would charge for curry sauce. To this, the writer shared, “I suspect it might be because they see my son is young. Bully.”
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)