Trannies and Evil Ex’s…

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or night depending on where and when in the world this happens to find you. It is an early Tuesday evening here on a steamy, rain drenched night in the Big Mango. So, I thought I’d do a post for you guys tonight. I had a couple of things happen to me right in a row this afternoon that were just to good to pass up, so I had to make sure I sat down and shared it with you before it fluttered away into the recesses of my mind.

I was taking my usual BTS ride home today from work surrounded by, yet ignoring the masses, like i usually do engrossed in one of my favorite podcasts. Except today, across the car a face catches my attention that caused me to subtly take a few more exploratory glances. Down the aisle and across the train was an aging transsexual, who i would have guessed to be in her late 50′s. She was immaculately dressed in a beige tank top, white cargo pants, and she was clutching a fashionable bag close to her body. Now, before i go on, you must understand that normally this wouldn’t be a strange sight for a Bangkok resident. Trannys are common where ever you go in Thailand, whether it be next to you on the train, serving you your dinner, or cutting your hair. They blend seamlessly into Thai society, and thus you stop turning your head to gawk at them after you’ve lived here a while.

However, this tall stylishly dressed aging glamazon I saw today was the spitting image of Burnadette in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. I was immediately reminded why I love Thailand and how I often take for granted the acceptance and open nature of Thai culture. Here was this retired western tranny with her finger nails painted to match her toe nails holding her head high on public transport, and not a single person batted an eyelash. She blended right in with the crowd, and it reminded me of one of the things I love about my life here. Hate crimes or things like “gay bashing” don’t occur here and I can live my life as open as I want without fear of persecution for who I am. Therefore, in light of the situation, I was sort of smiling to myself and thinking happy thoughts as i prepared to come home.

Ahhh, but the story doesn’t end there does it. I got off at my stop and exited the station to do a bit of light grocery shopping at the Villa before I made my way to the condo. I was walking along about to enter the store when out walks one of my ex’s. I looked up, smiled a bit and was about to say hello when he just smirked at me and walked right by. Not a hi, hello or even a kiss my ass! This particular ex was always a bit odd and my friends used to call him the little general as he’s a short guy with a bit of a napoleon complex. We haven’t spoken in years but we didn’t part on bad terms, and It just struck me as rude today how he walked right by and ignored me. I am on really good terms with all my other ex boyfriends, and only this particular one has held onto a grudge for the past 3 or 4 years now. Sooooo……Mr. K…if by chance you happen to be reading this, then I think it might be time for you to get over it! Next time we happen to bump into each other like that, I might just leap in front of you and force a bit of civility no matter how fabulous you might think you are. Keep that in mind, won’t you? Have a good one guys and talk to you later in the week!

Ugly Tourists…

Good morning, afternoon, evening or night depending on where and when in the wide world this finds you.  It’s a sunny Saturday morning to start my weekend off here, and I’m soooo very glad the weekend finally arrived.  This past week was one of those weeks that never seems to end, and the slow march to Friday afternoon seemed such a long road.   You know how some weeks seem to take twice as long to go by, while others come and go without much thought at all.  I wonder why some weeks are like that cause I’m sure everyone gets this feeling occasionally as well?

Anyways, on to the topic at hand while it is still fresh in my mind cause if i don’t get down in writing soon I will forget it.  That’s cause of the progression of age I think, but I digress.  Yesterday afternoon I was headed home after a gym session and reached the BTS station to catch my train home.  it was about 5:30 PM in the afternoon and the station was very crowded as usual, but one individual caught my attention despite the throngs of people.  It was a tall Caucasian guy, or farang as the Thais say, about a head taller than me with a backpack the size of an overweight child strapped to his back.   However, It wasn’t because he was a backpacker tourist that I noticed him because one can see many of these types of tourist across the city on any given day.  No, it was the over sized can of Heineken he was trying to carry through the gates leading up to the train platforms that I noticed about this particular fellow.  The guard stopped him immediately through the gate trying to separate this man from his unfinished beer, but the guy just wasn’t having it.  He immediately took on a very condescending tone, smiling and shrugging his shoulders at the guard saying very loudly…”What….What…..What!”  The guard politely told the man there were no “beverages” allowed beyond the gates (as evidenced by the large obvious sign above), but the man wasn’t about to give up his large can of beer to finish boarding the train.  He put his hand in the guards face and told the guard he was going to stand next to the gate and finish his beer, and kept laughing at the perceived silliness of this rule imposing on his vacation experience.

So, It makes me wonder if one can bring open containers of alcohol into any form of public transportation in the man’s home country?  I know in back home in the US the authorities in most cities don’t look to kindly on walking down the street sipping on a 40 oz. so I wonder why people assume they can just behave any less away from home.  Now, if this were an isolated incident then I might find it amusing, but I have unfortunately seen this situation play out in different ways here time and time again.  American, Australians, and the British are the absolute worst tourists when they travel abroad.  I always wonder why western tourist so often leave their common decency and manners behind when the travel abroad, whether it be climbing aboard the train sucking the face off a recently acquired prostitute or talking as loudly as possible to their cohorts across the dinner table in a quite restaurant.   Obviously, most tourists would need to possess a bit of world knowledge and money to get on a plane and travel across the ocean to reach Thailand, so It is a bit of a conundrum I have always wondered about.

Therefore, please keep in mind that when you do travel abroad you are representing your country of origin and that the locals get their impression of our cultures from your actions while visiting.  So, if you are going to be rude and make an ass out of yourself then eventually the local residents will form ill opinions of the place you call home.  I think it is human nature to let one negative experience or situation over rule a dozen positive ones, right?  I’ll stop preaching and close it there to wish you a wonderful weekend ahead.  Thanks as always for stopping by and I always appreciate each and every comment I get.  See you soon!

I am not a plastic bag…

So, I was riding home on the BTS this afternoon after work sitting there absorbed in my ipod as usual, and mindlessly staring at the people in front of me clinging to the straps and bars as we hummed along.  Now, bear in mind that I’m just like a million other people on public transportation around the world in that I normally try to tune out people around me as I make my daily commutes.  However, today I noticed this trendy looking little Thai lady in front of me in lovely designer dress and fashionable high heels.  Well…actually not so much the lady as the purse slung over her arm.  She had this big dark leather purse with the words “I am not a plastic bag!” creatively stitched to the side of the hand bag to make it super trendy.

Ok, so never mind that it was a big purse made of leather and that it looked a tad tacky, because it was what she had in her other hand that amused me the most.  In her other hand she was holding 3 plastic shopping bags with 1 separate item in each of the 3 bags.  I sort of smirked to myself and had a little inner chuckle at this woman sporting this trendy “green”  designer bag in the name of high fashion, all the while obviously oblivious to the cause .  However, It isn’t just her because I’ve seen a disturbing new trend arise here in Bangkok lately.  Recycling has become the “in” thing to do and every where you look you can buy fabric shopping bags with trendy “green” slogans printed on them.  A friend of mine even bought one recently nicely sealed in plastic wrap and of course, put in a plastic bag at the completion of the purchase.  Why, even yesterday I popped into the Emporium Shopping Center here in Bangkok to pick up my new glasses and there was a mini “Save the Earth,” concert being held in the event hall.  There were shoppers all standing/sitting around with their styrofoam cups of tea and plastic shopping bags listening to musicians play in front of a screen cycling through pictures of glaciers, polar bears, and drought stricken villagers some where.

Now please don’t get me wrong.  I’m all for going ‘green’ and doing your part for the environment.  I like to think I do my own little things to be conscious about the issue like using public transport, walking up the flight of steps where I live instead of using the elevator, or refusing to let the bewildered  7-11 staff put each individual item I purchase in separate individual bags.  I honestly think it is an important issue in today’s world but something tells me someone here in Thailand has lost the point some where along the way.  I’ve got 3 words for you…education, education, education.  Just my two cents though, so I’ll get off my little soap box for now.  I hope everyone is having a great week thus far, and chin up as the weekend is almost here!  Till next time thanks for stopping by for a read.