Bye Chicago...
26 Jan 2006
It’s Mexican again!! Why can’t I escape from Mexican food even when I am in Chicago? I’m so sick of it! Tacos, burritos, fajitas… I want pure fragrant white rice! Call me china but I grow up with rice as my staple diet. Simply can’t do without it. And Mexican food are so fattening. It doesn’t help that I am growing fatter by the day. Arghhh….
Today is the last day in Chicago and since Timothy asked me to try to be more sociable, I tried to do just that. But it doesn’t pay to be nice when you are faced with a New Yorker. I have always heard about how people in big cities are snobbish, “see people no up” and do not have time for anything, anybody other than themselves. I got the first hand experience today.
This morning, while most of us were comfortably sitting at our desk having breakfast, surfing internet and waiting for the class to start, two New Yorkers came by our table and demanded that my friend, in her own words, “scoot off” so that there will be enough space for the two of them to sit together. NY1 was not happy even after my friend shifted and demanded her to squeeze herself further into a tiny little corner. The problem is that there is obviously only space for just one more person!
Seeing the situation, I suggested that one of them could sit beside me. NY1 actually gave me a ludicrous look as if to imply I am suggesting something stupid and totally ignored me. She continued to ask my friend to move. It was only after a while that she finally decided she will just have to sit beside me as she can’t possibly ask my friend to leave the table, right?
When I introduced myself to her, she gave me a “I have no time for you, don’t waste my time” look. Seeing that she is not very friendly, I decided I have no time for her too and never bothered to talk to her further. So when she did not have a particular email which apparently the whole class has and demanded that someone send it to her, I pretended that I did not hear anything. Luckily I did not bother, she did not thank the person who sent her the email.
During discussion, we had to work in small groups. When my same friend asked which part of the article (softcopy) we were at since we kept scrolling up and down, NY1 said very curtly that we were at this particular point and gave the “why are you so slow” look.
There was another time during lesson, NY1 actually purposely tried to embarrass the instructor. After giving him a hard time, she turned around and looked at the rest of the New Yorkers with a smirk look as if to say “I won”.
The last straw came when she accidentally spilled coffee onto her laptop. My immediate reaction was to offer my only piece of napkin to her. Another Indian sitting in front of her had some napkins too so I asked him to pass them to her. I thought maybe I should also go get some more napkins since she had spilt more than half a cup of coffee on her laptop and table.
Guess what she did? She just dabbed the tissue on her laptop and never bothered to clean it properly. She left not just the stain but coffee on the table. She even left her rubbish (paper plates, cups, soiled napkins) on the table. What’s more, not once did she say thank you when I offered her the tissues. She is simply Horrible + Terrible = Incorrigible!
Heard from my American colleague that this is how New Yorkers behave. They simply don’t have the time to be bothered with anything that is unimportant. Their time is extremely precious. This is definitely not an isolated incident. New Yorkers are really full of themselves and never care about what is happening to the rest of the world. Thought 9/11 would have taught New Yorkers to slow down, think and reflect but apparently they have learned nothing from that attack or at least she hasn’t.
*************************************************
Before coming to the US, I have also heard about horror stories of how passengers could be badly treated at the airport. Well, I wasn’t really that badly treated but what happened was dreadful enough.
At custom of the O’Hare airport in Chicago, I was putting my stuff into the trays provided when the security officer ordered me to take out my computer from the bag and place it in another tray. When I replied that I have already put my computer in the other tray, he repeated what he said. My Vietnamese colleague who was standing behind me saw what happened and tried to help by repeating what I said. The guard was extremely rude and ORDERED my friend to keep quiet. He even gestured by putting his finger on his lips.
After I passed through the sensor, another guard requested to see my passport. He had not seen the passport before and when I said I am from Singapore. He said, “Ah…Singapore is part of China, right?” When I said no, he said, “China is buying fighter planes model….. to invade Singapore, just to let you know.”
Oh my god! Is this how they treat passengers at the airport? I was so pissed off that I just walked off. How ignorant and bad-mannered can these people get?
It’s Mexican again!! Why can’t I escape from Mexican food even when I am in Chicago? I’m so sick of it! Tacos, burritos, fajitas… I want pure fragrant white rice! Call me china but I grow up with rice as my staple diet. Simply can’t do without it. And Mexican food are so fattening. It doesn’t help that I am growing fatter by the day. Arghhh….
Today is the last day in Chicago and since Timothy asked me to try to be more sociable, I tried to do just that. But it doesn’t pay to be nice when you are faced with a New Yorker. I have always heard about how people in big cities are snobbish, “see people no up” and do not have time for anything, anybody other than themselves. I got the first hand experience today.
This morning, while most of us were comfortably sitting at our desk having breakfast, surfing internet and waiting for the class to start, two New Yorkers came by our table and demanded that my friend, in her own words, “scoot off” so that there will be enough space for the two of them to sit together. NY1 was not happy even after my friend shifted and demanded her to squeeze herself further into a tiny little corner. The problem is that there is obviously only space for just one more person!
Seeing the situation, I suggested that one of them could sit beside me. NY1 actually gave me a ludicrous look as if to imply I am suggesting something stupid and totally ignored me. She continued to ask my friend to move. It was only after a while that she finally decided she will just have to sit beside me as she can’t possibly ask my friend to leave the table, right?
When I introduced myself to her, she gave me a “I have no time for you, don’t waste my time” look. Seeing that she is not very friendly, I decided I have no time for her too and never bothered to talk to her further. So when she did not have a particular email which apparently the whole class has and demanded that someone send it to her, I pretended that I did not hear anything. Luckily I did not bother, she did not thank the person who sent her the email.
During discussion, we had to work in small groups. When my same friend asked which part of the article (softcopy) we were at since we kept scrolling up and down, NY1 said very curtly that we were at this particular point and gave the “why are you so slow” look.
There was another time during lesson, NY1 actually purposely tried to embarrass the instructor. After giving him a hard time, she turned around and looked at the rest of the New Yorkers with a smirk look as if to say “I won”.
The last straw came when she accidentally spilled coffee onto her laptop. My immediate reaction was to offer my only piece of napkin to her. Another Indian sitting in front of her had some napkins too so I asked him to pass them to her. I thought maybe I should also go get some more napkins since she had spilt more than half a cup of coffee on her laptop and table.
Guess what she did? She just dabbed the tissue on her laptop and never bothered to clean it properly. She left not just the stain but coffee on the table. She even left her rubbish (paper plates, cups, soiled napkins) on the table. What’s more, not once did she say thank you when I offered her the tissues. She is simply Horrible + Terrible = Incorrigible!
Heard from my American colleague that this is how New Yorkers behave. They simply don’t have the time to be bothered with anything that is unimportant. Their time is extremely precious. This is definitely not an isolated incident. New Yorkers are really full of themselves and never care about what is happening to the rest of the world. Thought 9/11 would have taught New Yorkers to slow down, think and reflect but apparently they have learned nothing from that attack or at least she hasn’t.
*************************************************
Before coming to the US, I have also heard about horror stories of how passengers could be badly treated at the airport. Well, I wasn’t really that badly treated but what happened was dreadful enough.
At custom of the O’Hare airport in Chicago, I was putting my stuff into the trays provided when the security officer ordered me to take out my computer from the bag and place it in another tray. When I replied that I have already put my computer in the other tray, he repeated what he said. My Vietnamese colleague who was standing behind me saw what happened and tried to help by repeating what I said. The guard was extremely rude and ORDERED my friend to keep quiet. He even gestured by putting his finger on his lips.
After I passed through the sensor, another guard requested to see my passport. He had not seen the passport before and when I said I am from Singapore. He said, “Ah…Singapore is part of China, right?” When I said no, he said, “China is buying fighter planes model….. to invade Singapore, just to let you know.”
Oh my god! Is this how they treat passengers at the airport? I was so pissed off that I just walked off. How ignorant and bad-mannered can these people get?
3 Comments:
NY1 is a stupid b-yatch! You should have helped by pouring milk on her. Then ask if she wants sugar to go with it.
To the customs guy, i guess u could hv made a thousand and one witty remarks, but nay, dun take that risk - they can give u a lot of trouble.
i guess people are nicer in the non-big cities.
And i think there are more to come.
sharpie, you should seriously start your own blog. haha. you and tim have totally writing styles. I could tell straight which was written by errmm ... a female. hahaha.
well shitty things happen when you are in a foreign land, cos surely kenna treated as 2nd, 3rd or lo-class citizen. Luckily for me, those ang mohs i've spoken to during my duty travels didn't sound that stupid !
hopefully i dun see stupid people everywhere when i'm in chicago. come to think of it, thank goodness i'd be landing in Midway airport.
I haven't received my Texas licence then. But then even if I had, I couldn't use it cos it doesn't show my christian name. Another stoopid, inflexible thing I experienced with the SSN office.
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