Cow & Chicken

Oh, look! You have got sheep's skin!

Pear-lady shouted from across and walked swiftly to the rugs section. Pear-lady is our regular customer who "adores our shop" but never for as long as I have worked here purchased anything from us. Pear-lady, however, looks sick and she dresses rather strangely, too - think oversize ladies PJ, or Missoni prints tights and sarongs in a so-called "upmarket shopping mall". She is almost always with her teenage daughter whom I believed is embarassed of her mother. I would, if I were her at that age. I pity Pear-lady. Seriously.

No, hon. That's cow skin.

She looked aghast and wailed, "Poor Cowwwwwwww!"

No, no. You see, your Prada and LV are made of genuine leather and leather is mainly made from cow skin. It's the same, just different construction, y'know.

She was staring at the cow hide looking rather disturbed.

Poor cowwwwwwwwww. No. I won't buy it.

She walked over and looked at me rather bewildered. "What's your name?" she asked just like my BM teacher back in high school.

I told her my name.

"Eeethan." she nods and continues, "Are you a designer?"

"No, I am not."

"You ARE a designer!" she looked furious now.

"No, no. I am not a designer. I'm a, erm, sales assitant with good taste." I grinned sheepishly.

She is smiling now (phew), and added, "My daughter is a designer. She's an industrial designer." She said that rather proudly.

"Really? That's cool."

"Ok, Eeeethan. See you next time," she turned around and walked away. Her daughter was 5 shops away already with her friend.

I walked back to the office thinking about her asking if I'm a designer. People always mistaken me as a designer. I reckon I am dressed to make them think that but my usual (humble) reply is that I am a sales assistant with good taste :p

Whenever I am in Bangkok, most local would ask where I am from. More often than not, they would assume I am a Japanese (1st common guess), followed by Hong Kong then Singapore. Never, ever a Malaysian.

"You where from, sir?"

I hesitated to tell him that I am from Malaysia, so I said, "Singapore."

"Oh, Singapore. Thai no like Singapore now."

Puzzled, I asked, "Why?"

"Because they allowed Thaksin to stay there."

Ha ha ha...I laughed and quickly changed the topic to...

Bird flu in Bangkok now, sir?

I really do not want him to drop me off in some secluded area and shoot me point blank.