Stick with waffles and lace

Belgium has many, many odd rules, regulations and customs. When people come to visit, I tell them that the easiest way to think of Brussels is to remember that no one wants to take your money. This rule applies to all aspects of living in Brussels:

--When riding on the tram or metro, you are on the honor system to stamp your ticket. There are no turn-styles to pass through or people validating your ticket so it is up to you to do it.
--In a restaurant, you can stay at the table as long as you want and the waiter will never bring you the bill. In fact, once the waiter puts down your food, you will have trouble ever making eye contact with him again. The waiter only brings you the bill when you ask for it.
--It is very common for a sales clerk to stay on the phone while you are waiting to be checked out. Only when he/she is ready to hang up and deal with you will you be able to purchase your product. Customer service is unheard of.
---Absolutely no stores are open on Sundays. Since the store might be open on Saturday, they make sure to take Monday off too, to make sure they have an ample amount of time off.
--You can just go on and assume that no ATM will have money in it on Monday, and sometimes even Tuesday. If it is a holiday weekend, then don't even try to get money out until the next Wednesday.
--A store will not let you through the door if it is within ten minutes before their closing time.

I often say that I would love to see what they teach in a college business class around here. I think a basic concept of business is supply and demand, however no one in Brussels seems to understand that one. In the summer, it can get up to 90 F and no one has air conditioning. However, if the hardware store runs out of fans in June, then you are out of luck -- they won't be getting any more in stock until next May. It is like that with everything around here. A store would rather be sold out of croissants by 9am and not be able to sell to the next 20 people that want one, rather than have to throw a few away at the end of the day.

But the Belgian business move that aggrevates me the most are the Sales. By Belgian law, a business is not allowed to have a sale except during the months of January and July. So everyone throughout Belgium knows that there will be huge sales during those months. Wouldn't you think that since every single person knows that every single store is having a sale, that you wouldn't need to advertise it too much? Oh no, not in Belgium. Rather than using their store window to show what items are on sale and at what great prices, instead every store plasters their maniquens and windows with huge SALE/SOLDEN signs. I guess it would just be too much to try and entice someone to come into your store and spend money.