M and I are walking back from lunch and we see a scrawny black cat washing itself under a bush... It stops and stares at us (yes, cats do stare). M is Palestinian and being somewhat superstitious, remarks,
"I think it's a Djinn."
Me: "Really, how can you tell?"
M: "It's black and it's looking at me"
Me: "Ummm, yes, but that doesn't mean anything."
M: "It does, it does!"
Me: "Ok ok.. what does it mean?"
M: "It means something bad might happen... Istaghfirullah."
Me: "Right."
Sleazeball
A is a huge Egyptian 30-something-year old man at work. He's married with 3 adorable little girls but his wife and kids are in another country and he's here in AD for the next three years. I am at my desk minding my own business when A comes up to me and asks:
"Where's R? (another colleague)"
Me: "I don't know"
A: "WHY DON'T YOU LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU?" (in a loud and very aggressive tone)
Me: "....?!"
A: "DON'T YOU KNOW IT'S POLITE TO LOOK AT PEOPLE WHEN YOU TALK TO THEM? STOP BEING SO ARROGANT AND LOOK AT ME!"
Me: struck dumb.
I've talked to this guy maybe twice since starting work and I've been raised in an environment where you don't gaze into random peoples' eyes... Just because I'm more friendly than the locals and smile at people doesn't mean you can take liberties with me!
Later, I thought of a good comeback but the moment was past.
Sleazeball
A is a huge Egyptian 30-something-year old man at work. He's married with 3 adorable little girls but his wife and kids are in another country and he's here in AD for the next three years. I am at my desk minding my own business when A comes up to me and asks:
"Where's R? (another colleague)"
Me: "I don't know"
A: "WHY DON'T YOU LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU?" (in a loud and very aggressive tone)
Me: "....?!"
A: "DON'T YOU KNOW IT'S POLITE TO LOOK AT PEOPLE WHEN YOU TALK TO THEM? STOP BEING SO ARROGANT AND LOOK AT ME!"
Me: struck dumb.
I've talked to this guy maybe twice since starting work and I've been raised in an environment where you don't gaze into random peoples' eyes... Just because I'm more friendly than the locals and smile at people doesn't mean you can take liberties with me!
Later, I thought of a good comeback but the moment was past.
Posts
not sure abt the middle east ... but i m quite sure teh whole eye gazing thing is supposed to be pretty important when it comes to comm skills in usa... how did u survive college ???
ReplyDeleteI did "the whole eye-gazing thing" in the US and blushed like crazy during my first job interview :P but I avoid this guy in particular (he's also 6 feet something so it's a little difficult looking up when i'm sitting down!)
ReplyDelete