Sorry, Wrong Number

People are perceptive. They ALL are. They just didn't know they are being perceptive, or worse, won't admit they are because you are not nice when you judge. By writing this paragraph, I am being perceptive .... that people perceive.

I am children-free today because it's Thursday and they go to daycare. I admit that this is one of the days in the week that I like most because I don't have my children, so I don't have to listen to them fight, and scream, and cry... and I don't have to scream and cry myself. The other day of the week I like most is Monday... that's another day they go to daycare.

So on this children-free day, I went and did a lot of things. I went and shopped for 2 pairs of pants for the little one cos he has grown out of his.... and winter has come early this year. It's almost like we didn't even see autumn. We froze our butts off for the past few days. And this poor little sausage only has 2 pairs of denim that are considered warmish.

Then I went and did some grocery shopping in the Asian grocery shops in my neighbourhood. I live in an area where there is a large population of Vietnamese. So in this shopping strip where 9 out of 10 shops are Vietnamese grocerers, and 11 out of 10 shoppers are Vietnamese, they can't help but think I am Vietnamese too. Everytime I go up to pay, the cashier girls always tell me the total payable in Vietnamese. Sometimes, I reply in English "Sorry? How much?". Other times, I just look at the cash register display and pay the amount and walk off.

Perception. Because I am an Asian shopping in the area, I must be Vietnamese.

When I first came to Australia, I lived in with my now husband, then "friend". We used to go out together to meet his friends..... well, I didn't exactly have any, did I? Many of them have never met anyone from Singapore before, so they were very surprised that I spoke English!!! Fluently!!!! Some didn't even know where Singapore is.... in China? in Japan? in Taiwan? in Malaysia? (at least Malaysia is close enough... China? Japan? Taiwan?)

Perception. Because I came from a country mainly populated by non-Caucasians, therefore it's surprising that I speak English.

Oh... not that I'm offended, don't get me wrong. I'm just proving a point. People perceive .. all the time. Whether it's a good perception, or bad perception, ..... we all perceive. Some perceptions are accurate, some are not.

SO ... if you are on the perceiving end, don't be too sure; if you are on the perceived end, it's OK..... let it go. People only perceive base on what they see. And if they are wrong... ppfffttt... c'est la vie. Just tell them... Sorry, Wrong Number.