Girl and City

Coming-of-age story about a girl and her city.

Browsing the archives for the Day to Day category.

Grievance Letters Pt 3

Dear SnootyAsianGirl,

I never had a good first impression of you, but I wanted to give you a chance by including you in our negotiations team. What do I get in return? You are a clueless, useless member of the team, and all you do is flirt with the guys on the other team. When you took the wrong hand-out at the end of last class and ended up being unprepared for our negotiation, do you remember the first thing you said? “SG, I think you gave me the wrong hand-out!” Um, no. You took the wrong hand-out, and then I chased you down as you were leaving to give you the right one, and you STILL ended up reading the wrong one!
You seemed like a smart girl at first, but now I am having serious doubts. I mean, if you realized you read the wrong hand-out, you probably aren’t in a position to negotiate concessions with the other team when you don’t even know what you’re talking about. When we were close to reaching a deal, you randomly started threatening them, breaking down all the rapport we had built with the other team. In those situations, shouldn’t you just keep your mouth shut? How clueless are you?

So, please, do us all a favour – for this week’s negotiation, just be quiet. In fact, don’t even show up to class at all. I’m sure the rest of us will do just fine without you.

Your Frustrated Team-mate,
SassyGirl

—-

Dear CockyBlondeJock,

You are an arrogant prick, and I don’t like you. I don’t know why you insist on teasing/flirting with me every chance you get but it is getting really annoying, so please STOP. What else do I have to do for you to get the message that I don’t want to talk to you? I’ve already tried ignoring you, dissing you in front of your friends, and yelling at you to leave me alone. Seriously, how stubborn are you? There are plenty of other girls in our school who would gladly flirt with you, why don’t you bother one of them? If you have an Asian fetish, there are plenty of other Asian girls here. If you have a petite girl fetish, there are also plenty of petite girls. But if you have a SassyGirl fetish, I can’t help you.

Not Interested,
SassyGirl

—

Dear BoysFromClub(s),

I am really liking the new trend of asking to dance with me as opposed to just rubbing yourselves against my behind. Thank you for that. Unfortunately, the answer is still, “No.”

Nice Try,
SassyGirl

—

Dear Value Investing,

I hate you. Every day, I wonder why I took your course. I don’t care that it worked for Buffet, it is not something I plan to do. And yet you continue to punish me with these dense annual reports of companies I’ve never heard of. Why, why, why do you torture me like this?

Your Anti-Disciple,
SassyGirl

—

Dear Value Investing Group Members,

If you can’t speak English, don’t write the report. And if you ask me to edit it for you, then why did you still hand in the unedited version? Thanks for wasting my time.

Ungratefully,
SassyGirl

2 comments on this entry so far. Grievance Letters Pt 3 was published on March 12th, 2010, under the Day to Day, School category.

The Not-Studious Nerd

At first glance, I fit the “nerd” stereotype. I’m smart, I do well in school, I’m good with computers (bonus points for having an online persona), and I wear glasses. But that is where the stereotype ends. I drink, I party, and I make friends wherever I go.

I am also a slacker.
Most people equate good grades with studious. But this is an illogical conclusion. Case in point. This morning, I had a four-hour exam. I spent the entire week watching Queen Seon Duk, a 62-episode Korean period drama, telling myself I would study when I got back to University Town. I got back on Monday, and spent the entire day yesterday watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy1. I spent an hour in the morning blow-drying and straightening my hair2. And I spent most of the four hours during the exam trying to scrape off the chipped nail polish on my fingernails.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if I got an A on the exam. It’s happened before.

If my friends knew how little I study (for exams or in general), I think they would all stop being my friends. So I always pretend to be studious when it’s close to exam time, and I always pull in my weight for team projects. After four years of university, my peers have yet to realize what a slacker I am.

  1. I suppose that earns me extra nerd points, but to be honest, it was because I had no other DVDs in my apartment, and I wanted to watch something on our plasma TV as opposed to on my computer. [↩]
  2. I always have to look good for exams. I don’t know when this ritual started, but I cannot allow myself to go to an exam with sweatpants and messy hair. I may look like that all week, but at the exam, I will look pristine. [↩]

9 comments on this entry so far. The Not-Studious Nerd was published on February 24th, 2010, under the School category.

I forgot Valentine’s Day

I missed Valentine’s Day this year.
It wasn’t until I read the blogs of my Internet friends that I was reminded of the fact. By then, Valentine’s Day had already passed.

I don’t make it a point to “celebrate” Valentine’s Day. However, in the past, it was the anniversary of MFL and I, so it was always announced with suitable fanfare. Even after I broke up with MFL, Valentine’s Day has never gone unnoticed (despite my feeble protests). I have always received attention from a gentleman on Valentine’s Day, short-lived as some of those attentions were.

This year was the first Valentine’s Day where I received nothing. No phone calls, no roses, no chocolates – not even a heart-shaped card.

You’d think I’d be disappointed, since one of my New Year resolutions was to spend this Valentine’s Day with someone I was actually interested in. And I am – a little disappointed – now that I think about it.

But I didn’t even notice.

This year’s Valentine’s Day coincided with Chinese New Year, which is a much more important event to me than Valentine’s Day. I was so concentrated on Chinese New Year festivities that I completely forgot about Valentine’s Day. All the better, it seems, considering the circumstances.

Instead, I celebrated Chinese New Year with an abundance of good food and good cheer.

I may have missed Valentine’s Day, but I don’t miss it.

5 comments on this entry so far. I forgot Valentine’s Day was published on February 18th, 2010, under the Day to Day category.

I am something.

“You should see the way the girls in New York swarm around the geezers once they find out they’re bankers,” I said in between mouthfuls of fried rice. “It’s disgusting. They’re old!”
My lunch companion laughed. “But from the bankers’ perspective, it’s their only hope. I mean when else are they going to get any action?” GSB said. “Their hours are too long for them to have any kind of real relationship.”
“Why even bother having a relationship? Did you read that quote on Overheard at The Business School? ‘I don’t understand why people have relationships in The Business School. It’s like an extra-curricular you can’t put on your resume.’ It’s exactly like that.”
“So they don’t have relationships. They just have a few girls on their speed-dial that they can call. Call-girls,” he said earnestly.
“Are you being serious?” I could never be sure when discussing the banker lifestyle with a banker, since he would be joining their ranks in a few short months.
“Yeah. Well a lot of times when they have an event or when they go out, they don’t want to be embarrassed by not having a girlfriend. So they have a few regular girls that they call upon.”
I made a face of disgust. “Too bad it doesn’t work the other way around.”
“Why not? You could have call-boys. Just tell them how much you make,” he said, this time I was sure he was joking.
“And what, offer to pay them to be my boyfriend for the night, weekend, whatever?”
He laughed, “Yeah I guess it doesn’t work as well for girls.”
“The attraction of money and success doesn’t work in the other direction. Girls will be all over a successful, wealthy man, but guys aren’t the same,” I said, with a hint of bitterness. “Plus, it’s even harder for consultants than bankers, we’re on the move all the time.”
“That’s true. So you could have a call-boy in every city, however long you’re there.”
“I’ve already started collecting names,” I said, giving him a wink. If GSB played his cards right, he could be on my list. After all, he was going to be in Hong Kong. That’s just a short hop from Singapore.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I met a guy at a conference. GS Japan. If I have a project in Tokyo, I’m thinking we could hook up.”
GSB shook his head in disbelief. “You are something.”

I seem to amaze people, although I am at a loss for why. Maybe they just don’t see it coming – you know, innocent little me, planning to have boytoys in every major city in Asia? Or any other scheme I come up with, really.

Later that day…

“Let’s meet in the morning on Sunday and spend as long as we need to to get through these cases.”
“9am?” Someone suggested. “That’s when we normally have class anyway.”
“I don’t think I can make it for 9. How about 10?” I piped up.
“Why? Do you have plans in the morning?”
“Well… sort of,” I said sheepishly. My teammates looked at me, waiting for me to continue. Finally, I said, “I have to make breakfast. You know, weekend breakfasts are pretty elaborate, they take time.”
Everyone burst into laughter. Then, when they realized I was being serious, they stared at me incredulously. “Your plans… are to make breakfast?”
“Well, normally I can eat breakfast on the go. But on weekends, I usually make a big breakfast – you know, scrambled eggs, pancakes… it takes time.”
Now they were looking at me like I was an alien. What? Was I so crazy to want to make myself a good breakfast once a week?
GSB finally chuckled and shook his head. “You are…” he trailed off, at a loss for words.
As the rest of my group begrudgingly agreed to meet at 10, I smiled smugly. Maybe I was “something” but I was going to have a big yummy breakfast on Sunday morning, and that’s all that mattered.

6 comments on this entry so far. I am something. was published on February 5th, 2010, under the Dating & Relationships, Day to Day, School category.