It's so sickening how a man of your own ethnic background can look down on you.
But I'm not referring this to all men, just certain men - the typical (malay) men who have ego the size of Jupiter but ion-sized brains. They think they are the superior-know-it-all and that women are the inferior-you-aint-know-nothing-baby piece of invention God has ever created.
Do you know that there's a daily convention of this male kind on the 3rd floor of Low Yatt Plaza? Yup, there is. I only discovered it by accident today.
My not-so-little-anymore sister decided that she'd get herself a new toy on New Year's day and had asked me to come along. I don't know much, but I do know that I know enough when it comes to comparing specifications.
At our first stop, a Lenovo caught our attention. The lengchai in-charge enthusiatically listed out the specification. No printed brochure, but he was kind enough to write down the details on a piece of blank paper. I haggled on the freebies, and after a while he agreed to trade them for something more useful. Great! That's our benchmark of the day.
We moved on, checked out other places, pestered a couple more lengchais and we finally got the grip on what we were looking for.
Some steps ahead, we passed this booth manned by a few abangs who called out for us to check out their stocks. I thought checking out on their deal wasn't any harm. So I walked over and had this interaction with one of them:
Me: Apa spec Dell ni, ek?
Him: Amik Acer la, Acer ni elok gak.
Me: Saya nak tau Dell dulu. Bagi spec Dell ni dulu.
Reluctantly, he listed out his offer by scribbling it on a piece of paper - the price, 320GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, screen size. By now, he had that I-got-you look on his face, smirking as if I knew nuts of what he was saying. Then I asked if that was all for the price. He quickly said something about the OS, and highlighted the 'FOC' softwares that he'd throw in.
When I said that I didn't need the FOC's because I can get them from the net myself, he countered that it's not that easy to download and install them. OK, typical men.
When I asked about the OS, he said "guna pirate je la". By then I had a shocked look. The price he was offering was higher than the lengchais' but at a lower specification. He insisted that I would get the same specification anywhere in the building. It hit me, he thought less of me. I mentioned that his price was high for whatever that he offered, and I thanked him. As I was about to turn around, with the look of disbelief he squeeled "Astaghfirullah al'azeeeeeeeemmm". Another step had him belch "sombong betul!".
By then, I was ready to turn around and give him a piece of my mind. Or give him a middle finger. Or punch him on the face. I did none. I just walked away.
Several more stops at similar abang stalls proved me right. A tudung-clad lady walking around asking for specifications and prices is a technology-bimbo in the eyes of these men.
Which made me upset. Because some naive bunch of girls from the local colleges would definitely fall into the trap. Because these superior-know-it-all kind will definitely strive and live on.
As my sister and I walked towards Ah Meng to final our deal, we both knew that even if we overpay him, it was for his effort, his lip-service and most of all, for respecting us ladies as his customers.
:/
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