NIMBY...

Hello everyone. I hope you are all well and are having a happy March. Everything is pretty much the same over here, except that I am writing this post in Malaysia. I am getting my non-Immigrant B visa (so I can ACTUALLY get a work permit and work here legally...shhhhhh) and got a great deal on a ticket, get to miss a couple days of school and explore more of SE Asia. Ohh...and its on the school's tab!! Anyway, I will talk more about Malaysia in my next post, but I would like to tell you another story.
I think I have mentioned that people here like to play a little game I refer to as "cutsies." For those of you who don't know, it is when people cut in line. I am going to put this as plainly as I can, I DO NOT LIKE THIS GAME!!! It is one of my main pet peeves. Well, being that I am an outsider, I have tried to deal with it as best as I can, but I have finally had enough and made the decision to not put up with it anymore. Lately, I have been telling certain individuals stories to get their response and if it is humorous to them I will post it on here. So, I ran this story past my friend Sinem (who informed me that she tends to occasionally play this game...Simem I am so disappointed in you) and she seemed to find it funny.
Last week I was at Tesco-Lotus buying some items I needed. Tesco-Lotus and Big C are like the Wal-Marts of Thailand. There are always full of people. So, I spend about 45 minutes there and I head to the counter to pay for my "merch." The line that I get into is about 10 people deep, about the same length as every other line. I am in the line waiting patiently and a couple minutes later a woman (slightly heavy and around 50-55) gets behind me in line. I turn to look at the woman and give her a friendly smile. When she smiled back at me, I felt a touch of non-verbal communication. As soon as I turned back around, I KNEW this woman was going to try and pull some shenannigans!! We continue to get closer to the counter and I am always keeping a keen eye on "Cutter Kathy." She is trying to be sneaky by walking over to the gum, looking at a pack of it, but then not buying it. She did that about three different times. As I am seeing all of this, I am just thinking to myself, "Lady, I know you have no idea that I realize what you are up to, but I HOPE you try and cut in front of me. I HOPE YOU DO!"
Well, we are getting close to the counter and she is starting to see she is running out of time. Throughout this time, I have been trying to figure out a way to position my cart in a way that if she tries to "pull a quick recon" I can use the cart to cut her off. Let me say that I positioned my cart better than General Patton positioned his army to secure victory in WWII. This lady figures out that it is now or never and tries to play cutsies. In her attempt, I gave my cart a little nudge and nailed this lady square in the hip. That's right...you can say whatever you want about me but I am proud to say that I knocked a middle age woman SQUARE IN THE HIP FOR TRYING TO CUT IN LINE!!!!
Bottom line is that this woman was not happy! She started yelling at me in Thai (which I cannot understand) so I calmly started replying in English (which she could not understand), "I don't think so hunny. NIMBY. N-I-M-B-Y. Not In My Back Yard. I knew the whole time you were gonna try some shenannigans and you paid the price. We may be living in Bangkok, but where we are at now is called "Bang-Hip". I hope you have a wonderful evening." Of course I said all of this with a smile on my face. Again, I will say that I left with a smile on my face and quite proud of myself. I even had to tell my senior economics class about it and they thought it was funny too.
Well, that is all I have right now. I am glad I remembered I needed to publish another post. I am trying to hang out in Malaysia, but right now it is pouring outside. Until next time, at times it is easiest to make a point my knocking someone...no matter what age...in the freakin' hip:)