There are times when I feel like being a biaaatch all day long, so sorry ladies and boys as I unleash my mzerie (birthname:misery)
“Kiss me under the milky twilight”
Hoi apa main cium-cium ni, pergi ambil wuduk solat maghrib nak masuk dah!
ANNOYED BY MUMMIES
I was invited for lunch (makan-makan event yang best ni) at my friend’s place (Kenapalah rumah ko jauh sangat Su) after the Eid holidays last year. She is my co-worker and we also went to uni together. So me and ny (terjebak juga) came and ate. In the eating scenery were:-
The ladies: Me, ny, the lady host, her two other friends whom I never met, her mother and older sister.
The kids: A 1.5 year old girl who belonged to the host's friend and her sister’s baby. Meanwhile, the host's daughter was sleeping at one side.
The others a metre away: The host's husband, the 1.5 year old girl's father and the host's friend and his fiancee.
So we talked while eating. The conversation was mixed at first, I asked about who else promised to come and also about old classmates. Then the children started playing with a toy. The baby was holding the toy first and was later joined by the interested girl. Soon the other ladies quickly focused the conversation towards the children playing. They cooed about how the children interacted, how the toddler was battling for the toy from the girl, what their expressions were, about how cute and how old they are. In my mind I was focused on how bland the conversation was. About half an hour the topic revolved around kids. In fact I even joined by commenting on how determined the little girl was in getting the toy. (Garangnya dia!) Hahaha.
Frankly my dear, I gave a damn about this. I was actually annoyed because it made me think. Is that all women ever talk about when we have kids? My kids, your kids, their kids? About less than a metre away were the fathers who were talking about other issues. Frankly I wish I was chatting with them . Why do ladies who don't really know each other at an intimate gathering talk about babies 24/7 while men talk about world issues. Are we that preoccupied with children that these are the only topics that we can talk about?
Okay, there are mothers who can converse about other things too and there are also mothers who made children their alter egos. In friendster I can't stand people who rarely post pictures of themselves online but when baby comes all baby pictures are uploaded into the web. Your child is an individual who have their own privacy rights, so don’t go pasting close ups and blur expressions of them in the place where I want to see you first and foremost.
Please post your pictures first before you paste your babies pic all over the world. If my mum did that I'd cry although me at one month old looked the same like any other babies. Furthermore posting only baby's picture as the primary photo will confuse people into thinking that one is befriending a baby and not you the mum or dad!
Luckily no one in facebook posted their baby pic as the primary photo like in friendster. When I have a baby, I prefer to keep my baby in a different realm. I'll post like five photos of me and only one of baby. Help me remember my resolution God! I don’t want future me to annoy the present me.
ps: MamaZara and MamaQisha, bagus korang tampal muka korang sekali dengan baby. Tak macam ada orang duk menampal muka baby aje padahal muka dia sembunyi belakang tiang. Cittt, sian baby.
A YOUNG MZERIE
Among my siblings I was the quiet one, most timid and very shy. When were very young at ten years old and below, my older sister (Akak) and my youngest sister (Ulul) argued a lot (sampai sekarang pun). Akak claimed that Ulul likes to hit her behind my father’s back, but when Akak told my father about this he said she’s just a baby after all so she's pardoned. But at times when Akak couldn't stand it she would hit Ulul back and being a baby she would wail out loudly. My younger sister was around 3, me 5 and Akak 7.
One day after school hours Akak sat down with me and Ulul on the living room floor to play some games. I was doing my own thing when Akak and Ulul argued about something. Soon they started hitting each other, Ulul cried loudly and just then my father arrived at home from work. Tired and annoyed he told us to stop and whacked Akak, Ulul and me. Dear readers, I was doing my own thing there waaaaaaaaaaaaaha! My mother who sat nearby quickly berated my father for punishing me too as I was only an innocent bystander. My father said everyone was included in the punishment. But from his face I can see that he only realized then that he had hit the wrong child.
I cried silently. Thanks mum.
Ulul rarely got hit by father because she was the youngest and therefore somehow deemed the most precious. My older sister and me had our share of our own nostalgic punishments. Akak had serious asthma when she was young. One day at nine or ten years old she pushed my father's angry button and was gifted with several rattan lashes. Crying and in disstress she suffered a severe asthma attack and promptly my father stopped. The next day Akak's condition still has not improved and so mum dragged her and us along to the hospital the next day.
My mother is a super hero! My father and emotional wreck that day.
My most illogical punishment was because I hold my pencil to write in a way that was deemed weird. Those days when you hold a pencil in a weird way or use the left hand to write surely your bosses of the house will punish and rehabilitate your fingers. My mozac classmate told me he was punished for being a lefty. Ok, so my father made me write using the ‘correct’ method and if I failed he flicked my fingers with his fingers which was very painful. I think they call it ‘titik jari ko’. But unfortunately my fingers prevailed its way so I am not 'cured' at all. With the advancement in pc/laptops and sms, writing faced evolution. I can’t think of memorable punishment from my father towards my youngest sister. My mother was the only one who performed balanced punishment on us three. She usually flicks her rattan on us whenever we became quarrelsome.
My fathers punishment on me had at one time made me think that he must have hated me so much to do those things on me, but no lah bila fikir balik actually Akak suffered more being the oldest and most defiant. When I left home and attended boarding school my father never hit me anymore. A few years ago, Father commented on my weird pen holding style and I retorted back that all his former rehabilitative efforts at resetting my fingers were after all useless and being a bit kurang ajar, I laughed hahhaaha defaintly at him.
Air kiss my father for his rehab efforts.
I HATE
I throw tonnes of rubbish each year but I throw them in the right places. Ok, I am not a green person but I detest those car drivers/passengers who threw rubbish from the open windows of their cars. This usually happen and I only notice them when traffic is slow. These people have no qualms about polluting their streets. Come on guys, there is no one there to sweep after you. Are you paying a special fee to throw things away and let them be others’ eyesores?
One female threw away her cigarette pack after fishing out the last stick.
A man threw away used tissues.
I threw a glance and seethed inside.
In and around the country they did this. No wonder our country is full garbage even on a nice sunny morning. Well, you should see the parks after some festive celebrations. If I were to charge a rengget for each rubbish I picked up, I’ll be a rich person by now. Please don’t litter and don’t blame it on the migrants too. We as locals are guilty too. So please if you want to pollute your country do it with grace. Let the rubbish/litter bin be full and let the streets be clear. I’m all for recycling but not now dear, later later ok.
Kiss the cleaners for doing what they do
BuRsT oUt!
I am naturally a very docile person.How did I become so docile? Maybe because I have a very domineering older sister (although I rarely obey her) and I am the middle child.
Google search revealed that docile means:-
Willing to be taught, led, supervised or directed - wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn Yielding to control or supervision, direction, or management; Ready to accept instruction or direction - wiktionary.org/wiki/Docile The trait of being agreeably submissive and manageable - wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn.
However, I also burst out sometimes. My first public burst was at a hypermarket in 2003, (ely, u were there.. ala mesti tak ingat). I wanted to buy this foot pad for shoes but there was no price tag on it. So, I asked a nearby female employee. She told me that all prices are already stated on the racks. The foot pad was hung under a rack with 7.90 on it and so with her answer I assume that was the price. After that I went to the cashier, and to my surprise the foot pad was actually priced 13.90. I was angry as I felt I was being misled. But I still paid for my purchase. Exiting the hypermarket I quickly dragged my friend to the customer service counter and in a flurry told a lady about it. The lady listened to me intently and asked whether I would like a refund? I said Yes because I was angry. The foot pad might be measly priced but as I was ‘bengang’ I asked for my money back.
The second burst also happened at the same hypermarket but this time in a different location. Anyway I wanted to spend a 20 worth of voucher in this store. Just before paying I showed the voucher to the cashier who was not even smiling. She took the voucher and put it aside, after scanning the items and stating the total I gave her the voucher. She looked at it and said, “You can’t use the voucher here as it has the name of another outlet stamped on it.” I said, “The terms and condition on the back says that it can be used at any outlet.” She answered “No, only at this outlet” while pointing at the voucher. So, I paid with cash and went to the customer counter to complain. At the counter I showed the service lady and asked the same question. She said that I can use voucher there, but I asked why did the lady at the counter said I can’t? With a smile while gesturing to her friend that the counter was their friend’s counter she said to me, “Maybe she was busy?” I said No! I told the customer service officer that the cashier told me matter of factly that the voucher can only be used at the stamped outlet. The stamped outlet was indeed merely the voucher provider and the terms and conditions stated clearly that it can be used anywhere.
I was very angry.
Then the other service lady approached me and said that I can still use the voucher at a later date. I said ok, but I told the ladies that she should tell her friend, the cashier, that she just made a customer very very angry. The face of the smiling-and-taking-my-complaint-in-a-laid back -manner customer service lady changed and it was priceless. That must have been how I looked like when told that my voucher can’t be used. Luckily I have 30 cash to spare at that time. Citt.
Talking about hypermarkets I remembered one store of a different kind. Me and my friend had piled our staff into a shopping trolley and approached the nearest empty counter. However, this cashier guy said with a very straight face to us ”Sorry, we don’t accept trolley at this counter.” It was very unkind of him as there was no one there except us and the trolley counter was like ten metres away. He could at least decline us with a smile and apology for the inconveniences. Customer are always right, that is even if they are completely wrong. I think most customers are quick to be polite when service staff handle them correctly and with dignity. Well, there are those rotten apples who think that everybody owes them just because they have a lot of cash. But the rest of us customers are normal, your everyday customers. I know because I worked in the service industry sometime ago.
One funny anecdote was at another store with a very grim cashier. She was sitting down and attending to customers. I noticed that she barely looked at the customer in front of me and when it was my turn I spoke to her. "Why so grim, please smile." And with that her cloudy expression sunnied up. It felt like watching the brightest smile of the moment. Before this when I was a cashier in a department store, I also get a lot of comments like this. It's time to return it back.
Air kiss the customers!
