A guy and a girl on a secret rendezvous have to be having an affair. The man is always going to lie in a relationship. And recently, considering my present surrounding, a Thai girl with a foreign man has to be a prostitute. It’s easy to forget that they are just unfounded assumptions and not the universal truth.[break]
But I err by nature; after all, I’m only human. Next to me, a couple is seated: the guy is European and the girl, Thai. The guy looks mature and collected, possibly around fifty. The girl looks much younger, naïve and nervous.
I don’t think I’ve to spell out what’s crossing my mind. To reinforce my thoughts, my friend remarks, “No way a girl that hot would ever be with someone like that!”
Like Sherlock Holmes, my mind is ticking away with the possibilities that can explain the situation that’s in front of me. Yet I choose to believe in the worst possible scenario. Perhaps I’m a cynic; perhaps I’m a realist.
I’ve been in Thailand long enough to notice this repulsive trend. This might very well be why I’m thinking of this couple in question in a very critical manner.
I take another peek at the couple only to feel myself flushing with anger, embarrassment and sympathy for both of them.
I think of his family. I imagine he has a chubby wife who is extremely friendly and likes to bake. I think of her family – poor, but unaware of how their daughter is making money. How would they feel to be in my place and be a witness to this, I ponder.
I put my coffee down and lean in a bit closer to the pair of them as I let my curiosity get the best of me. My friend had already left and so it would seem that I had nothing better to do. So I went ahead and I snooped.
The first thing I noticed was that the girl wasn’t speaking in Thai or in English. Strike one for me.
Secondly, the guy seemed to be the least bit interested in her. Even he was talking in the same foreign language with a monotone, not your typical tone when you’re trying to impress someone. It seemed they were talking about something grim because the girl looked liked she might burst into tears any second. Strike two.
By this time, I’m so pulled into their world that I barely realize how peculiar I must’ve appeared to those nosing into their business. Ironic, isn’t it?
The final blow, and what left me feeling like a complete imbecile, was when I think I heard the girl address the guy as “uncle.” And thank God that words like “uncle” are universal.
As it turned out, the girl wasn’t a Thai prostitute. Far from it, in fact – she wasn’t even Thai! And I let my imagination run wild and ended up getting to an ill-judged conclusion.
Prostitute or not, I had no business judging. But it wasn’t at all difficult sitting with my friend and coming up with (im)plausible explanations – all on the judgmental side, of course.
Now of course, I grew up with very high morals. More so because my family has never been one to sit back and watch as I run around with debauched notions on life. But as I grew up, I guess the world around corrupted me.
I understood that ideals were one thing and reality was another.
But it was quite an adventure judging her, I shall admit. Could she be/could she not be. Wrong, I know; but entertaining. Immoral even; but then again, it were only human.
For I know very well that though you might’ve tried very hard, passing up on an opportunity to make snotty and snide comments might seldom happen.
I’ve heard and also made a lot of spurious remarks that have been nothing more than nonsense. Yet somehow, we all succumb to this temptation.
I know that you must be reading this and judging me as a writer. So tell me, don’t you think some human characteristics are more generic than others?
But let me tell you, I had never been big on judging. On the contrary, I would preach otherwise. And this was only because no one told me about the brutal, disparaging world until I experienced it myself.
I’ll admit that I was feeling rather bad about having formed an opinion about the mystery couple only until the girl walked up to me and decided to strike a conversation with me.
After I answered her “Where are you from?” and few other concerns, she told me how impressed she was to meet an Indian with unaccented English!
Sure, it wasn’t as bad me thinking of her as a prostitute, but at least I didn’t voice out my sentiments to her, like she did me.
Talking about judging!
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