Yesterday we were reminiscing at the office. One of my “old” workmates from when I used to work there in 2005 reminded me of an event:
-Remember when you broke your foot and went all crazy about the fact that you couldn’t do any sort of exercise for 12 weeks? And then you started some crazy diet?
-Sure do, I remember. I went a bit crazy there for a while and only ate apples for a week or so.
-Yeah and then our Chinese boss were standing in the door one day when you came limping in on your crutches, and when he saw you he went: “Oh Jonna! You look much fatter today! That’s good!” And all of us just went “Oh no, she’s not going to take this well…”
-hahahaaha, yes I remember, I had never been called fat by a Chinese person up until that day so I didn’t really know that what he said actually was meant to make me feel better, and in the same way show that he cared… Instead I took it all personal….
-Didn’t you like.. go to the bathroom and cry or something? I remember you were gone for a while.
-The bathroom was busy, so I went to the kitchen for a 20-minute sob. And then I reduced my daily dose of apples from 4 to 3.
-Hahahhahahahah!
When we were talking another work mate was listening in, and when we all finished laughing she told us that once she had been in the kitchen together with another girl from Finland…. Both of them happen to have striking red hair.
Suddenly our Chinese boss stepped into the kitchen. They said hello but then he stopped and looked at them both, before he said:
-Oh… you two look like… witches!
…before he walked out!
Hilarious! I was rolling around on the floor of laughter when I heard this story! This Chinese boss of ours is “all about business” and often wears a suit… just to think of him letting out these clumsy comments just makes me crack up! By now, we all know he doesn’t mean anything mean, so we all just nod, say “oh, really” and then we have a laugh about it.
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3 comments:
Oh no, I'm just like that Chinese boss. I say all sorts of things that come out wrong and offend everybody!
From your experience, is there anyway a verbal klutz like me can make people aware that we have good hearts, even though our mouths spew forth offensiveness left, right and centre Jonna??
Please help.
Adrian
ps: should I see that shrink again?
You should hear the funny comments I get for being left handed even though I have a Chinese face. Once on a train a woman openly asked me how was it possible that I could eat sunflower seeds at the same rate as she could. I've had others ask me if I need help getting food from serving dishes during meals. I usually decline with a good-natured face and say, "I'm ok!".
Sounds like the poor guy is having problems with the language barrier. Or is he good at English and just bad at jokes? ^_^
@Jess: When my dad was born in the Southern US in the 50s, he was left-handed. At the time, being left-handed was seen as "evil" and a sign of something being wrong with a person. So, my dad was forced to learn how to use his right hand for everything. Now he's right handed. My brother was born left-handed.
Interesting story you had there about people thinking you need help just because you're left-handed.
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