Dear Mr. Fang,
Your blue jacket is ready. The broken zipper has been replaced with a stronger one, and we also fixed a loose button on the left sleeve. The cloth was thinner than it looked, so our tailor added a narrow strip of the same material inside the pocket.
The total cost is NT$450, which is NT$50 less than our first estimate. You may pay when you collect the jacket.
We close at 7 p.m. on weekdays and at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Please bring this message or tell the clerk your phone number.
Yours truly,
Marie, Dahe Tailor Shop
Second Chance - Winter Clothing Drive
Last winter we clothed more than six hundred children. Every item is washed again before it travels north. To join the Sunday team, write to help@secondchance.org.
How long does it take to judge a stranger? A lecturer at a Dutch university asked students to look at photographs for one tenth of a second. In that short time most of them had already decided who looked friendly and who did not.
Later research suggests that clothes matter even more than faces. When the same man wore a suit in one picture and an old T-shirt in another, viewers guessed his income very differently.
The scientists warn that such quick judgments are often wrong, yet almost nobody escapes them. Knowing about the habit, they say, is the only useful defense.
Notice to All Front-Desk Staff
From 1 October the following rules apply during working hours:
Staff who work in the kitchen follow separate rules. Anyone who is unsure about an item should ask the duty manager before Friday.