The beeping of tills and squealing of trolley wheels greeted me as I entered the Korean grocery store. I headed straight for the toilet-paper aisle, picked the first one with the number "three" printed on the packaging, assuming it meant "three-ply", and made straight for the till. "Annyeonghaseyo," the cashier chirped. But before I could say hello, somewhere around me what sounded like jackpot music rang out, making me jump slightly."Chuk-ha-ham-nida!" (Congratulations!) the cashier shouted at me.story_article_left1She entered a little side room nearby, leaving me alone with my imagination, which by now was running wild with possibilities of what my prize would be. She returned, beaming. In her hand, she held a box of tissues.She gestured towards the tissues and said, "son-mul" (gift). I'd won some sort of lucky draw - and my prize was a box of tissues.Just then an elderly man stormed in. His face was almost as red as the tomatoes in his hand. He halted just inside the entrance, his packet of tomatoes swaying violently from the abrupt stop. And then he screamed.Top Mart fell silent. The jackpot music stopped. One customer, who was in the middle of packing her frozen chicken into a packet, froze too, the chicken in midair. The cashiers, busy jabbing buttons at the tills, stopped.Even the Top Mart announcer, blaring the specials of the day through a microphone, stopped.The sudden silence amplified the angry customer's shouting. His arms waved wildly, his packet of tomatoes swished this way and that, making it look like he was conducting an invisible orchestra.Finally the manager emerged, looking thoroughly confused and panicky. He started for the angry customer's right hand and it was only then I noticed the customer was holding something in that hand too.He threw the white punnet with all his might to the floor. The manager yelled in frustration as something liquid splashed on his pants and shoes.The rolls of toilet paper weighed my hands down. I put the package down and stepped closer to the scene, pretending to peruse the watermelon on sale.block_quotes_start The cashiers giggled and resumed scanning items while the cleaner mopped up the last bit of squid juice on the floor block_quotes_endI smelt it before I saw it: ocean. I looked at the floor and saw mussels and squid strewn everywhere. A piece of squid adorned the manager's shoe. Someone was summoned to mop up the mess.I watched as the mop's tentacles swiped the squid's tentacles away while the manager tried in vain to calm the angry customer, who still raged to no one in particular.He pointed furiously at the mussels and squid as if he were angry at someone else for causing such a stinky mess.story_article_right2Gradually his heavy breathing eased, the redness in his face reduced and he allowed the manager to usher him into the little side room.A lady carrying a punnet identical to the angry customer's knocked on the little side room's door hesitantly. The manager emerged, took the punnet gratefully and offered it to the angry customer, who grabbed it with a grunt of acknowledgement.He muttered one final expletive before marching out. The cashiers giggled and resumed scanning items while the cleaner mopped up the last bit of squid juice on the floor.I watched the angry customer shuffle off with his fresh punnet, before shuffling off myself.Back in the quiet of my flat, I ambled over to my cupboard to unload my toilet paper.The toilet paper! I'd forgotten it at the shop.Good thing I won that box of tissues.• Do you have a funny or quirky story about your travels to share with us? Send 600 words to travelmag@sundaytimes.co.za..