Mirror Mirror On The Wall

I attended a social event on the weekend. It was pretty amusing as i was asked some really weird questions throughout the night...First off was "Do you speak Mandarin?" Ok, this is not really surprising as most people seemed to think that i know Mandarin and are most likely to start off a conversation with me in Mandarin. Though i had tried studying Mandarin (confessed sheepishly twice in fact), i don't seem to have grasp the language very well. Of cos, when i start to speak in Mandarin every time, people will either burst out laughing or continue to speak to me at which point in time my brain had to work extra hard to process what the other person is saying then do a slow translation from Mand-Eng, digest, then think of a suitable reply in Eng before attempting (unsuccessfully) to translate back to Mand! See, it's just too much effort, i reckon so sometimes i just shake my head and say "I don't speak Mand" to kill off these people hopes of conversing Mandarin with me once and for all...Once in awhile i'll also get a lecture on why it's good to know your own mother tongue and bla bla bla...Sheeesh...

Next fave question was "Are you a Christian?" Now this is rather baffling especially when it was followed by the above question. I mean, most people who are Christians are usually English educated people so this really gets me stumped....i mean, how many English-edu people actually knows Mand too?? So, i asked them whether i looked like a Christian to them in which they answered yes...Go figure...though i agree some people do seemed to have a "Christian face" (no offence to anyone)

One person had the cheek to ask me whether i was a disco-kaki? I nearly jumped on him! What? Me? Someone who is so demure-looking?? muahahahaaha...oh, but seriously, i seldom hear this though my colleague had the same impression on me and didn't really believe me when i told him that i was a gym-kaki rather than a disco-kaki...Hmmm, just wondered what gave them that impression...perhaps i should revert to a China-doll hairstyle huh to look more goody-goody? LOL...

The highlight of the night came from a guy who asked me what was my profession? I told him in which he asked me what exactly do i do? In my mind, i was wondering which planet does this guy come from? The jungle perhaps?? So, i gave him a smile and replied sweetly that i deal with figures, accounts and calculator and he nodded his head! Imagine my surprise when he hit me with the next question? "So, are you the accounts clerk? or accounts assistant? or accounts officer?" I just looked at him baffled and wanted to smack him across...gees, does he like have an understanding problem or am i not speaking clearly enough...well, since other people seemed to have no problems understanding me, i guess it must be him! I patiently repeated that i'm an accountant and again he nodded his head. Then, get this...he said "What a co-incidence, i'm looking for an accountant to do some book-keeping for me" I'm like....errr, are you like offering me a job or trying to hint something here cos we don't seemed to be speaking the same wavelength after all....?? Then, i told him that he doesn't really need an accountant to do book-keeping...he just needs a LCCI grad who can jolly well do book-keeping for him at a minimal price...since he complained that the person that he asked quoted a 'big sum' to him...oh, what the heck! It's none of my business...i was very happy when i moved away from him and hoped that i'll never set eyes on him again....praying silently to God...

The other FAQ (frequently asked qustion) that i get is "Am I Local?" Gees, i never knew i had an 'outstation face' until people started asking me why is it that i never go back to my hometown during long breaks of hols...And me gives a big question mark face and replied "What hometown?" The funniest incident happened when i got a cab ride to the bus station during one of my hol trips. The cab driver, seeing me get in with a bag pack asked whether i was going back to my hometown. I told him that i was just going for a hol trip. Then he said, "But you are not local right?" I said yeah, but i am. He then proceeded to argue with me that i'm actually from Ipoh and that i'm only just renting a room here....I'm like...Hey, do you mean to say that you know me better than i know myself when i had been what..(counting my fingers) barely in your cab for that 10 minutes?? Anyway, after arguing unsucessfully (as he didn't really seemed to believe me) i just pretended not to hear what else he was saying and soon, he gave up and left me alone....

See, there are all sorts of people in this world and i'm just so lucky to be the one to meet them all (not)...it's just hilarious to think that people seemed to have all sorts of perceptions on another person based on the 1st impression when they meet the person...Oh, my gem of the night was "Are you still schooling or working?" Muaahahaaha....that at least salvaged a bit of my pride!!