I believe we’ve mentioned 7-11 before – that they are everywhere and really deliver on the vision of convenience. You can pay utilities bills, parking fees, and even odd bills for small companies like the organic farm that delivers milk every week.
Another thing you can do at 7-11 is buy tickets to concerts, shows, and sporting events. Before this week I have bought tickets to shows by faxing in an order form or directly on-line. However, when I went to go buy tickets to the Winne the Pooh show at the Taipei Convention Center coming up this weekend, the web site required registering for membership etc. and I decided, well, why not give this 7-11 thing a try since I’d heard other people use that method.
When I got to 7-11, I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but I soon spied a promising looking machine in the corner. It wasn’t an ATM but looked similar. It wasn’t immediately obvious to me when I walked up to it that I was correct, but I found an option that had the character for “ticket” on it and figured I’d give it a try. I was then given two options which I didn’t know how to read, but I had my handy IPhone with me that has a Chinese-English dictionary installed so I soon puzzled out that I was looking at buying tickets and ticket pick-up. I picked buying tickets of course and then I was able to read the following – movie tickets, transportation tickets… and something like 4 other choices which I wasn’t sure about. I ruled out the movie and transportation tickets and decided to just make a guess on the other 4. I don’t remember then exactly what I might have pushed, but I eventually guessed my way into finding the “family entertainment” at which time I saw the word DISNEY and thought – “bingo!” Being illiterate is a real pain, but I suppose I’m just literate enough to guess my way through every day life. I suppose I was always good at all those multiple choice tests growing up. Things haven’t changed and honestly, I apply the same skills. 
I learned things as well – next time I want to go to the movies or take a train I know where to go!
The machine let me pick seats and eventually spit out a bunch of paper. It didn’t ask me for any money but the paper had barcodes on it so based on my experience paying bills at 7-11 (where the cashier scans a barcode on your bill when you pay it) I guessed (again) that I should take the paper to the cashier. Before it spit out the paper I did read a message on the screen that told me I had to do something within 10 minutes. I presumed it was talking about my needing to complete the transaction by paying for the tickets. I walked over to the cashier and handed him my papers. Sure enough he scanned the barcode and asked me for money. I handed over some cash, he asked me to wait, and after a couple minutes out popped some tickets from a machine behind him. Cool! And there wasn’t even a service charge like Ticket Master charges back in the states. I fully expected one and was surprised when there was not.
The promising looking machine.
My papers and the machine with lots of options on it behind it.
