I won't mince words. Joanna has been a passenger on our motorbike, standing between me and Phuong when I ride the bike. Phuong holds Joanna, and Joanna holds the back of my shirt or my hair popping out from under my helmet. I know it's dangerous and stupid, but the rides with Joanna aboard are limited to our neighborhood and the shops and stores that are very close by. It's convenient, and I'm not comfortable always asking Phuong's mom or sister-in-law to watch Joanna if Phuong and I need to go somewhere. Taxis are not reliable -- they can never find our house and the drivers act like they're the stars in Death Race 2000, a quality 1975 satirical film starring David Carradine, Simone Griffeth and Sylvester Stallone. I don't feel safe in the taxis. I don't feel safe on the bike, either, but Joanna loves riding and actually cries when the ride is finished. And not because of the way I ride. Of course, I'm ultra careful, but I realize there are no guarantees when you ride -- people are stupid on the bikes here and many are more than willing to kill or injure a baby so they can get to the coffee shop faster. We only ride in the middle of the day when traffic is lighter. And I ride very, very slowly.
I've been buying lottery tickets from an older gentleman for the past year or so, and I thought he was OK and that we had a good relationship. I thought wrong. Monday, the guy tried to rip me off for 40,000 dong, which isn't much, but it's still money. I bought one ticket for 10,000 dong and gave the old guy 50,000 dong to pay for it. He strolled off. I chased him down and demanded my 40,000, and he pretended he didn't understand and tried to sell me four more lottery tickets. This guy speaks a little English, and knew what he was doing. Some guy who saw the entire incident unfold intervened and I eventually got my 40,000 dong change. I was disappointed because I thought I knew the guy and I sort of trusted him. The same type of thing happened with a neighbor girl. She would come to my house to watch cartoons and I would give her candy or buy her some chips. That girl stole 500,000 dong out of my wallet when I went outside to buy her and her sister ice cream cones. I hate when people choose a few bucks over friendship. Hell, if they'd just ask nicely, I'd give 'em a few bucks.
Another day of tennis, another ass-clown walking across my court during my match. This was the second time this turd face has done this, so I told him in Vietnamese that I would walk across his court during his match since he was wasting my money. All his friends made fun of me, going "oooooohhhh" when I talked. The guy laughed and pretended not to understand, so I did the most feminine, wimpiest walk I could across the court and pointed at him, trying to "imitate" him so I could show him and his buddies what he looked like to me. All his friends laughed AT HIM this time, and he apologized. We'll see what happens the next time. I notice that the Vietnamese never walk across a court where Vietnamese are playing. My wife insists race is not a factor in their disrespect for me, but I'm not so sure.
My employer took me off the class that refused to speak to me, and all my classes have been wonderful ever since. The two replacement classes bonded instantly with me and one of them insisted I keep teaching them. I invited them to take a walk across my tennis court on Friday.
I smashed my left eye on the corner of a glass shelf while cleaning, and I've got a pretty good shiner developing. The shelf is Phuong's, so maybe this is payback for the time I gave her a black eye when I "playfully" tossed a puzzle to her in a toy store.
Easy rider Joanna is very close to walking -- eight days before she turns 11 months old. She currently takes baby steps, so to speak, and it won't be long before she really gets rolling. She's having a rough time with her new teeth and it's tough to see her in pain.
No comments:
Post a Comment