Today my friend asked me about my bargaining skills. Bargaining? What’s a bargain? I asked. This resulted in his eyebrows shooting upwards faster than the current sensex. “You are a girl! You don’t bargain?”
Stung by this careless remark, I told him that once in Thailand, I had gotten a necklace for 100 baht as compared to the original price of 110 baht. I proudly added that the shopkeeper agreed almost immediately and was in fact smiling at me. My friend countered that the smile actually meant “So long sucker!”
Well, I agree that I cannot bargain, but what’s a “girl” got to do with the skill? I call for equal rights to purchase anything without jumping at the seller’s label..err lapel first! Now that this thread has started, I want to ask for equal rights for both the genders on several other important issues.
For example, when I was a kid, a teacher once scolded me in front of the whole class for my bad handwriting. I was fine with it until she said. “Your writing is so untidy. And you a girl!” Now hold your horses there missy. Can’t girls have bad handwriting? If boys are allowed to pass off bowls of spaghetti as their English homework, why can’t I be allowed to do the same? So in a personal defiance, I have ensured till date my handwriting remains exactly the same. That is - like a lawn mower gone amok. In fact my colleagues say that even if I commit the blasphemy of writing down a password and leaving it for the world to see; the password will still be more secure than an encrypted one on the network.
Then there was a time when I owned a cupboard the size of your lunch box. (I haven’t progressed much in this area. 10 years down the line, and my cupboard still refuses to grow any bigger). My hostel warden saw one look at my wardrobe and fainted. I had lovingly stuffed my entire belongings in the sacred space. It was an attempt to secure everything under a lock. As an additional security, I had arranged the stuff in such a manner such that the entire bundle would fall on intruder’s head if the lock was broken. Only I knew the secret of opening the cupboard door without being hit by any lethal weapon. Now what I have problem with are the warden’s words when she came to – “And you a girl! Why? Only men have the brains to design ingenious security systems?
And how can I forget the time when someone decided to give an extempore lecture on my fork-and-knife skills during a dinner conversation? Well, he had reasons to be slightly upset when I neatly landed my vegetables on his napkin. Which, by the way was across the table. (I agree that I should have offered apologies like a lady instead of hooting with joy, but then how many times have you seen a carrot somersault?) I only landed back with a thump from my own high pedestal when I heard the word “girl” creep in somewhere.
I hereby unburden myself from this unfair discrimination. Now let me look for around for a bargain. The idea of jumping at any lapel actually sounds like fun.
Stung by this careless remark, I told him that once in Thailand, I had gotten a necklace for 100 baht as compared to the original price of 110 baht. I proudly added that the shopkeeper agreed almost immediately and was in fact smiling at me. My friend countered that the smile actually meant “So long sucker!”
Well, I agree that I cannot bargain, but what’s a “girl” got to do with the skill? I call for equal rights to purchase anything without jumping at the seller’s label..err lapel first! Now that this thread has started, I want to ask for equal rights for both the genders on several other important issues.
For example, when I was a kid, a teacher once scolded me in front of the whole class for my bad handwriting. I was fine with it until she said. “Your writing is so untidy. And you a girl!” Now hold your horses there missy. Can’t girls have bad handwriting? If boys are allowed to pass off bowls of spaghetti as their English homework, why can’t I be allowed to do the same? So in a personal defiance, I have ensured till date my handwriting remains exactly the same. That is - like a lawn mower gone amok. In fact my colleagues say that even if I commit the blasphemy of writing down a password and leaving it for the world to see; the password will still be more secure than an encrypted one on the network.
Then there was a time when I owned a cupboard the size of your lunch box. (I haven’t progressed much in this area. 10 years down the line, and my cupboard still refuses to grow any bigger). My hostel warden saw one look at my wardrobe and fainted. I had lovingly stuffed my entire belongings in the sacred space. It was an attempt to secure everything under a lock. As an additional security, I had arranged the stuff in such a manner such that the entire bundle would fall on intruder’s head if the lock was broken. Only I knew the secret of opening the cupboard door without being hit by any lethal weapon. Now what I have problem with are the warden’s words when she came to – “And you a girl! Why? Only men have the brains to design ingenious security systems?
And how can I forget the time when someone decided to give an extempore lecture on my fork-and-knife skills during a dinner conversation? Well, he had reasons to be slightly upset when I neatly landed my vegetables on his napkin. Which, by the way was across the table. (I agree that I should have offered apologies like a lady instead of hooting with joy, but then how many times have you seen a carrot somersault?) I only landed back with a thump from my own high pedestal when I heard the word “girl” creep in somewhere.
I hereby unburden myself from this unfair discrimination. Now let me look for around for a bargain. The idea of jumping at any lapel actually sounds like fun.
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