As you know I'm now currently in Melbourne. Got a busy afternoon ahead in the Nuffnang office here and then there's the "Coffee with Nuffies" session later this afternoon where Ming and I are supposed to meet some Australian Nuffnangers here. Will take loads of pictures of my day and blog about it in the coming days.
Today though I'm going to tell you something really petty but annoying that happened to me on my flight here. So I had just boarded the plane bound for Melbourne, I put my bags in the overhead compartments and just settled down in my seat.Seated next to me was an aunty. I acknowledged her with a "Hi" and realized that she didn't speak English too well. I think Cantonese or Mandarin would've been her first language. No worries about that though.
About 15 minutes later, the air stewardesses came around to pass out Australian Immigration Arrival cards. You know the kind of things you have to fill up every time you go to another country. You put in your name, address, passport number, where you're staying in Australia, how long you're staying etc etc.
Since I had just packed my passport up in the overhead compartment above me, I decided to keep the card in the seat pocket in front of me until I land. Then while waiting for people to exit the plane, I would fill in the card then. Saves time too.
7 hours or so later the plane finally landed and I reached into the seat pocket in front of me looking for my Arrival card but it was GONE!
After turning my whole seat around, the Aunty seated next to me finally said something along the lines of
"Oh.... I took your arrival card... sorry... I wrote my card wrong so I took yours. Didn't know it was yours".
I was fuming inside. A part of me couldn't help but feel that she knew it was mine (I mean it was in MY seat pocket after all and she saw me put it there) but still blatantly took it from me because she messed up her own card.
But the other part of me refused to allow such any sort of a violent reaction. We've all been brought up in Asia to learn to respect the elders and not talk to them in any way like that. So I just looked at her and said "It's okay Aunty".
Now this is a really petty thing. I mean at the end of it maybe costs me an extra 5-10 minutes or something getting my card at the immigration counter and filling it up then. So it's not so much the time but just the principle of it... of someone taking something from you... maybe because they value their time more than yours. If the Aunty had asked me for my card because she messed up mine, I would've gladly just given it to her.
It's not the first time I've experienced rude aunties like that. How many times have you been at a lunch buffet only to see a bunch of aunties collectively try to cut your line. Worse still is that they don't even look at your apologetically. They go in there thinking it's their right and when you try to prevent it they give you a nasty look.
Now lets not generalize all aunties! Only a minority of aunties fall into this category. I've met many of them who are very nice and if they need help in anything they'll ask in a very polite manner that makes you just want to go out of your way to help.
But to the rude aunties... please stop doing what you do.
Is it just me who experiences all these things with rude aunties? Anyone else have any experiences like that?
23 comments:
I totally know what you mean. It's not the fact that it will only cost you an extra 5-10 minutes. It's just that they are self-centered, and rude, and invade your privacy, and think that they can bulldoze everyone else because they are older should-be-respected aunties.
yes i did!! i was very angry but then, what to do..dont wanna go into an arguement so just let them get it..there'll be karma anyway =p
oh gosh, believe me, i kena aunties liddat for dunno how many thousand times. just because they are older than us, they think they can do anything they want without considering our feelings. =_=
ahh yess.can't help but to comment on this one! As much as i love my grandma and my mother in law,they are also typical aunties that would get on other youngster nerves and all I could do is look on and maybe just tap their shoulder a little hoping they won't go overboard.
It can be so annoying even if those 'aunties' are our relatives and we are not the one being bullied too!lol
Last year, my hb and i took a dinner cruise in bangkok... all was fine n dandy until someone announced that DINNER is ready... i.e. the buffet...
The minute the announcement came on, a BUNCH of mad aunties just rushed forward and took food like they've not eaten for dayyyysssss... what's more annoying is that they will happily just step in front of you thinking that it is ok to cut queue and not be "paiseh" about it...
So ya... there are lots of mad aunties out there... but ahem... I am a good aunty... hahaha...
Me tooo!!! I call them Old Ladies Syndrome.
I was standing in the LRT on the way to Gombak, then when someone gets up, you automatically sits down right? Wait for what? =.=
When I just sat my ass down, these 2 old ladies came into the LRT and stood in front of me. I wanted to get up and give them my seat actually after everybody settled down. But to my dismay, one of them started to say LOUDLY in front of me:
"Youngsters nowadays don't know what is manners. Don't know how to give up the seats for the old ladies."
I was like, WTF?! If you want the seats, ask politely la. Definitely I cannot say NO right?
So no, I didn't get up give them my seat. HAHA!
Well, I had experience something even worse when I was young. It was so nasty until I still remember now. It was more than 15 years ago..
It was a "granny" I met rather than an aunty. She was smoking behind me, when she held the cigratte in her hand, I have no idea how the cigratte had burnt my arm.
I was still a kid so I quickly turned to see what happened.
The granny's first response was " Nah.... I didn't do anything, you yourself stepped back and got burnt!"
Wow..... impressive!
i dont have that kind of personal xperience to share but that happy all the time
i was lining up to buy LRT ticket at the auto ticket machine when an auntie cut me off. No she did not cut me off to buy ticket, she did that juz so she can check the coin compartment to see if there's any coins accidentally left there by the previous user. So pissed with stupid aunties.
I think its just the typical mentality that people ought to be courteous to the elderly. Somehow this idea has turned from courtesy to a right it seems. And like most people here said, its not that we mind doing any of these things, its just that once in a while some older people come along and think that they are entitled to do such things.
It's the norm here in Ukraine! Especially old ladies... They'll cut into your queue with some lame-ass excuse (or sometimes without any at all) and they'll tell you off if you don't let them. Or if you cut their line instead.
It's become 'every man for himself', I'm afraid.
rude aunties probably don't read your blog
Totally understand how your feel and I have personally experienced it myself!
Was buying vege in Tesco when the weighing counter suddenly has so many people lining up. This aunty just came and stood at the counter right in frount, asking to be excuse just because she's only waiting for ONE WATERMELON to be weighed. She was so rude. She told everyone that she's old and we SHOULD let her weigh first. Helloo??? If you were to ask properly, I'll let you weigh first. But the attitude doesn't give her the credit, doesn't she?
Some people just thought they are the "ELDER ONES" and have the privilege to do all these little things.
Cannot tahan.
auntie bo tak chek..
happened to me once while on an international flight. it was an aunty from middle east.
She left an half eaten carrot on my tray.
NIAAAAMAAA!!!
Hi Tim, first time leaving comment on your blog albeit being an avid reader for a long time. =)
About aunties, I think there are very nice ones and very rude ones. I myself being pregnant, realise that those who gave their seats to me in the train or buses were always the aunties. So I guess I have better encounters with the aunties than you do. =P
Me too! Not only they cut your line, they won't hesitate to push you just to get whatever they want. And they're super strong haha
Well Tim, I think I left a similar comment once, but since you're talking about having similar experiences with aunties.. here's my story.
I once encountered an auntie who ignorantly stopped her car in the middle of the lane in Tesco (The curve) parking lot, waiting for another car to come out - that I was already waiting for. There was no reason for her to not know I was waiting for the parking first, because I was right in front of her until I signalled and stopped at the side of the lane! No matter how I or the others behind her honned, she wouldn't budge, she wouldn't even dare look at my direction, not to mention even feeling apologetic or embarrassed at all!
Sigh.
I think these rude aunties are not only rude to youngters like us, they are just generally rude.
I witnessed this once when i accompanied my mom to a private hospital for a free blood test. The booth was in the lobby of the hospital so it was open where everyone can see. Before my mom's turn, there was this aunty who was getting her test done; shortly after that the results came out and it showed that she was perfectly healthy. My mom then innocently made a comment to her saying something along the lines like: "wow ur report came out fine, u need not worry!" and the lady simply looked at my mom and replied fiercely "that's none of your business!" I was so close to giving her one tight slap.
My aunt once met an 'uncle' who behaved like this. The uncle cut the entire queue, right in front of my aunt.
Being an 'auntie' herself, my aunt scolded the man. The man told her that he's old (when they're almost the same age).
Then my aunt just yelled back, "Oh, so old is 'dai sai', old can do everything? So old can kill people is it?"
Okay, I met one today, and she scolded me for asking her to excuse. She was blocking the door for wanting to cut her bag's cannot-be-opened-by-hand-sting thing.
Scolded and gave me the stare. Wth.
had a mad aunty yesterday poking my hand with her sharp fingernails repeatedly while in the supermarket cashier line going very loudly: kui tiam ah? kui tiam?? (wat time ah now, wat time??) o_O and she went on poking my hand where my watch was wtf. and she pushed my petite sized mom while in the queue too WTF! bloody rude aunty.
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