Saturday, March 01, 2008

Random Events at the Mall

Before I say anything else, I would like to thank Melissa from Part of Everything for awarding me my first blog award ever. She was kind enough to think of me back when I wasn't writing much, so this is a delayed expression of gratitude. You make my day too, Melissa. I'm not sure what the protocol is for passing this along, but I don't think I can do it right now. I just came back from seeing, "I'm Not There", and I feel way too tired and confused to get organized enough to things properly. I'm not sure if I'm just stupid, or if the movie was stupid, but I do know that I know less about Bob Dylan now than I did before I saw the film. It was pretty whack. Hubbby was equally confused by the end of it, so the only thing left to do was head over to Dairy Queen for a Scor Bar Blizzard. It helped to ease the pain.

I had a pretty interesting trip to the mall yesterday. A guy selling make-up at one of those temporary booths located in the middle of the mall hallway jumped out at me and said, "You Italian?"
"No."
"Spanish?"
"No."
"Portuguese?"
"No."
"What are you then?"
I should have just darted, but I stood there, listing off my eastern European countries of origin, which clearly weren't satisfying this guy. Then I added, "...and I'm Jewish", which gave him the "exotic" background that he was looking for. I always wondered why people listed Jewish as their background, as I generally regarded it as a religion, but I now realize that it is in fact a culture, with a sometimes-stereotypical look that I may or may not have. Either way, he was pleased with that and dragged me over to a chair to sell me on some make-up. I found him to be slimy, but I generally try to be polite, so I heard him out. After he finished his demo, he hit me with the pricing, which didn't interest me as I wasn't buying anything. Then he tried to sweeten the deal, but I still wasn't buying. Then he said, "You're a Jew, right? I'll give you my best deal then." Did he really say that? How can a guy say something like that when he's trying to sell something??? I really don't consider myself to be overly sensitive to such matters, and I really don't think that I have a chip on my shoulder, but that was out of line, right? Not being one for confrontation, I politely dismissed his offer and walked off, shaking my head.

So then I went to get my watch repaired, and the guy doing the repair said to me, "Are you Italian? Spanish? Portuguese?" I started to wonder if I was being Punked. Nope. Ashton Kutcher was nowhere to be seen. I must exude something that prompts guys to question my origin as a conversation starter. Then he basically started hitting on me with a thick layer of flattery that I honestly didn't mind. I figured I'd point out my almost six month pregnant belly, which fazed him a bit, but then he got over it and asked if I was married. It must be the prenatal glow. Nothing boosts a pregnant woman's self-esteem more than being hit on by random strangers.

5 comments:

Whirlwind said...

That is just weird.

I haven't been to a mall in forever. They lost their appeal at some point in time.

Melissa said...

You're welcome for the award. It seems that some people pass it on to others and some don't. So take your pick! I didn't give it to you or anyone else with the expectation that it "should" be passed on. I was just giving it to you because... -Well, you've seen my post on it!

As for "You're a Jew, right? I'll give you my best deal then." -THAT is AWFUL!!!! LOL! I'm laughing out loud here. I mean what was he thinking????

And the 2nd guy? Do you get asked that question often? Maybe it's something you were wearing that day?

Gabriella said...

Wowwee...I can't believe the first guy said that...guess he didn't think that it was the wrong thing to say...

I took all the compliments I could get when I was pregnant, they were a hell of a lot more than I get today.

kittenpie said...

Damn. Now I want a Skor blizzard...

Anonymous said...

Good words.