The Mute Pirate

Last week, I bought a 'chiong' PS2 game at AMK (one of the last few surviving 'public' outlets in Singapore). One of them didn't work so I returned to the shop yesterday, asking for a replacement. The pirate just looked at the game, then shook his hands at me indicating a "no", then he gestured to another rack of PS2 games. I was puzzled and replied,"No I want the same game."

However he repeated his gestures and pointed to the other racks. Then I clarified,"This game can't change but others can?". He nodded. Hmmm... fine. After 5 minutes, I got another game, showed it to him and asked,"This one okay?" After 3 seconds of scrutinising, he nodded and I made of quickly.

The way he gestured was unprofessional (i.e. not a sign language) so obviously he could talk and was worried that someone may be taping our conversations. How peculiar... and why couldn't I change back to the same game title? Is the whole batch faulty? If yes, why do they still want to try their luck in selling them?