"Madam, You're So Fat!"
Sunday, in Saigon Square, Ho Chi Minh City
“Do you have a size L?” I ask the saleswoman as I show her the white blouse which caught my eye.
“No, no size L. Size M only. This very beautiful for you.” She answers cheerfully in her awkward English.
“Me, size L. No size M.” I reply.
Yes, I wear large clothes here. After living in Vietnam for a while now, I am getting used to it. However, I don’t feel enthused every time this fact is being confirmed and reconfirmed. Like this instance.
I just came from a stall that sells jeans. I wanted to buy jeans that would go with the blue bag I just bought. So I went inside the stall. The saleswoman smiled at me. Maybe she remembered me because I usually buy jeans here. I chose one that I thought would look great on me. I tried it on. And…the jeans were smaller than I thought. I asked the saleswoman to give me one that’s a size bigger. She giggled and said, “ Troi oi (tr. Good God)! Madam, you’re so fat!”
Such audacity!
I immediately left afterward. I draw the line at saleswomen telling me I’m fat when I’m buying clothes. I guess I never thought that I would ever be in this situation, be described as fat...to my face...at American size six!
6 comments:
Don't worry, and don't take it personally. I know that's easy for me to say, as a dude.
It's just a state of being - you're fat, you're skinny, you're tall, you're short. Folks have no issues pointing out the obvious and doing so in a way that is not really judgmental. After all, she did say that item of clothing looks good on you - even if it was to close a sale.
Native Vietnamese people are blunt, straight up. Even when negotiating, they cut out any (polite albeit unnecessary) pc-ness that normally, us Americans use ("is it possible if?" "i was wondering if i could...") To get Pun Intended about it: they cut the fat ("we don't want this dish" "why do you charge so much?") Vietnamese people rock (but of course) and the best thing to do when negotiating with them is to get sarcastic and clever with them because all Vietnamese people are thus (real talk).
Cheryl, e-mail us and let's all hook down in HCM: thirstythong@gmail.com
dontcha worry, i'm too ornery to ever be put down.hehe.i do know of people (this means men and women expats and tourists) who hate it but i've learned a thang or two about vietnamese.it's a story and although it did happen to me, my reactions weren't like that. it's meant to be funny (maybe the humor didn't come across.)
Hi there, i understand what you're thinking, for western people that's very rude but for Vietnamese, they're always say what they think and they didn't think that will hhurt someone. I apology! Very interresting blog.
I reckon I get it pretty much everyday. I'm a pretty big bloke so I guess I can't really argue with them but the bluntness can hurt.
For the most part it goes over my head but on a bad day it can really get on your nerves. I've come to hate the Vietnamese word for fat. Apologies for the phronetic spelling but it sounds like "bell" but said how you might say "boing" - if you get my drift.
I hear it buzz around me continually, wherever I go.
Like a lot of things that I thought I would get used to, in actual fact it is cumulatively bugging me more than ever
to godknows and omih. it's part of the culture i guess. so i think it's no good to apologize for it. and when it happens to you, omih, yet again, follow thong's advise, use sarcasm, it does work. (and even when it doesn't work) it will make you feel better.i should know.
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