Gossip (yeah, I do that occassionally)
Yesterday after work I trekked over to (another) Cilantro, near the American University, to meet up with Karen, an Irish girl who interned at this organization last fall. Not only was it a nice change - speaking with a NATIVE English speaker - but I learned all sorts of office gossip, which is always nice to have.
Most notable was all she had to say about Osman. As you (avid readers that you are) may remember, I was a bit concerned a few days ago that Osman may be "sweet" on me. Well, it seems that 1) my fear is definitely founded, and 2) I shouldn't be in the least bit flattered. We were discussing how Osman kind of creeps me out, and it turns out I have good reason. He's officially old by Egyptian standards (about 28), and still single, living with the 'rents, etc. Additionally, he's of the lower class, which makes marriage even MORE important. This means that he's desperate to get married, and will fall in "love" with pretty much any girl who's available and kind. Thus, his constant invitations to do something after work should definitely be shunned, as they are the first step on a very slippery slope. Karen's story: she made the mistake of going for a short walk after work with him a couple of times, and then he asked to meet her to go over some application he was filling out in English. She agreed, they met near her apartment, but he didn't have it with him - he'd been planning on going up to her apartment to get it off the internet! Annoyed, but not aware of how taboo having a man in the apartment actually is around here, she went with it, and the next thing she knew he was acting ULTRA-possessive of her all the time, and soon proposed.*
Karen turned him down, obviously, and then things got very uncomfortable around the office. Like it is with me, Osman was kind of her lifeline to whatever work she had to do, and so she had to deal with him, but he was far from civil. Finally, a woman pulled Karen aside and asked what was going on, and the information somehow got back to the boss, who spoke with Osman. And then he pulled Karen aside, telling her that she had "no right" to tell anyone that he'd proposed. Her response: "I don't know how it is around here, but in my country, a proposal is a pretty big deal, and something that will be shared with a girl's friends. And it just so happens that my girlfriends are your co-workers, which you knew ahead of time."
He wasn't pleased. Especially since Karen told Reham, who Osman'd proposed to three weeks prior ...
The moral of the story: STAY AWAY FROM OSMAN! Karen actually made a very good suggestion - the next time he asks if I want to do something, I'll just say, "I'm sorry, but I don't think my fiancee would be comfortable with me spending time alone with another man." Short, sweet, and to the point. I'm to expect a response along the lines of, "You'd do it in America," because that's standard fare from men trying to get foreign women to do things local women won't, but if I explain what I'd do to my imaginary fiancee if I found out he was spending time alone with another woman, it should put the whole thing to rest.
So a productive evening, learning a bit more about the office and people. And it seems like Karen actually made things easier on me - for awhile, Osman was making her highlight all of her changes so that he could review them, until she freaked out and told him that if he didn't trust her command of the English language, then maybe she shouldn't be editing at all ... and no one has asked me to keep track of what I change. :) Besides, it was good to just sit around and gossip for a bit ... nothing makes a girl feel better than imagining the torments she'd pile on her imaginary lover for his imaginary indiscretions!
*I feel I should defend Karen's honor: NOTHING happened in the apartment. As a matter of fact, he sat down to watch TV while she got online to get the application, which never actually materialized. However, while online she saw a friend she hadn't spoken to in months, and so started chatting with her. Osman got all sulky because "You invited me into your house, I'm a guest, and all you want to do is talk to your friend on the computer!" Karen replied with a combination of justification ("I haven't talked to her in months!") and dismissal ("And who are you to complain? You actually invited yourself up here!"), and eventually he stormed out because he was getting so little attention. Hahaha - between his desperation to get married, and his high-maintanence need for attention, he sounds just like a bunch of girls I knew in college. :)
Most notable was all she had to say about Osman. As you (avid readers that you are) may remember, I was a bit concerned a few days ago that Osman may be "sweet" on me. Well, it seems that 1) my fear is definitely founded, and 2) I shouldn't be in the least bit flattered. We were discussing how Osman kind of creeps me out, and it turns out I have good reason. He's officially old by Egyptian standards (about 28), and still single, living with the 'rents, etc. Additionally, he's of the lower class, which makes marriage even MORE important. This means that he's desperate to get married, and will fall in "love" with pretty much any girl who's available and kind. Thus, his constant invitations to do something after work should definitely be shunned, as they are the first step on a very slippery slope. Karen's story: she made the mistake of going for a short walk after work with him a couple of times, and then he asked to meet her to go over some application he was filling out in English. She agreed, they met near her apartment, but he didn't have it with him - he'd been planning on going up to her apartment to get it off the internet! Annoyed, but not aware of how taboo having a man in the apartment actually is around here, she went with it, and the next thing she knew he was acting ULTRA-possessive of her all the time, and soon proposed.*
Karen turned him down, obviously, and then things got very uncomfortable around the office. Like it is with me, Osman was kind of her lifeline to whatever work she had to do, and so she had to deal with him, but he was far from civil. Finally, a woman pulled Karen aside and asked what was going on, and the information somehow got back to the boss, who spoke with Osman. And then he pulled Karen aside, telling her that she had "no right" to tell anyone that he'd proposed. Her response: "I don't know how it is around here, but in my country, a proposal is a pretty big deal, and something that will be shared with a girl's friends. And it just so happens that my girlfriends are your co-workers, which you knew ahead of time."
He wasn't pleased. Especially since Karen told Reham, who Osman'd proposed to three weeks prior ...
The moral of the story: STAY AWAY FROM OSMAN! Karen actually made a very good suggestion - the next time he asks if I want to do something, I'll just say, "I'm sorry, but I don't think my fiancee would be comfortable with me spending time alone with another man." Short, sweet, and to the point. I'm to expect a response along the lines of, "You'd do it in America," because that's standard fare from men trying to get foreign women to do things local women won't, but if I explain what I'd do to my imaginary fiancee if I found out he was spending time alone with another woman, it should put the whole thing to rest.
So a productive evening, learning a bit more about the office and people. And it seems like Karen actually made things easier on me - for awhile, Osman was making her highlight all of her changes so that he could review them, until she freaked out and told him that if he didn't trust her command of the English language, then maybe she shouldn't be editing at all ... and no one has asked me to keep track of what I change. :) Besides, it was good to just sit around and gossip for a bit ... nothing makes a girl feel better than imagining the torments she'd pile on her imaginary lover for his imaginary indiscretions!
*I feel I should defend Karen's honor: NOTHING happened in the apartment. As a matter of fact, he sat down to watch TV while she got online to get the application, which never actually materialized. However, while online she saw a friend she hadn't spoken to in months, and so started chatting with her. Osman got all sulky because "You invited me into your house, I'm a guest, and all you want to do is talk to your friend on the computer!" Karen replied with a combination of justification ("I haven't talked to her in months!") and dismissal ("And who are you to complain? You actually invited yourself up here!"), and eventually he stormed out because he was getting so little attention. Hahaha - between his desperation to get married, and his high-maintanence need for attention, he sounds just like a bunch of girls I knew in college. :)
posted by Teale at 11:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home