(In which I am advised to unleash my “true nature”)
***
I wore a black skirt, a black halter tank top with a white bolero matched with white flip flops adorned with flowers to office today. (I know it’s quite feminine but everyone has to acknowledge his/her own gender sometimes, right?) When the bell rang, I went to my room and found that BF and her student, Ricky, were still there. I excused myself and pulled up my most cheerful “Hi” to greet them and walked in. (It’s time for my class and they’re leaving and they said it’s ok anyway.) BF went out first but Ricky lingered a bit, just enough for him to make my day.
“You don’t have to pretend to be lady-like. I don’t mind you using your true natures,” he said matter-of-factly, with a smile.
“What do you mean?”
“We [BF and Ricky] have talked about your personality. I think you’re kind of a fighter,” he said more but all the rest of his words just faded into obscurity. I owe my inattentiveness to lack of sleep and interest. Besides, I already knew about him thinking I’m a fighter (because he told me and BF told me).
“Uhmm. So I heard. Well, it’s still me,” I responded. (What am I supposed to say anyway?) I excused myself and we headed to the door and he was still talking – to which I just nodded in response. I was about seven strides away from him when I caught some of his words: “You . . . like . . . you’re the boss.” I looked back and saw him talking to one of the academy staff.
And he just gave me two songs for the day – one from Ne-Yo and another from Cristina Aguilera. Though I want to think that he doesn’t really intend to offend me, I wonder what’s with the invariable frequency of telling me I’m not feminine!
He said I’m pretending to be lady-like? If wearing a skirt and saying a gleeful “Hi” makes me fake, does that mean that I should always wear baggy pants and approach people with a gangster nod? And talk about my true nature! I could be a serial killer and/or a nymphomaniac for all he knows and he wants me to show my real self?
Wait. There’s more.
After the first half of the two-hour class, I went to the computer room to visit a site and saw a box saying there’s a new program installed. I was checking all programs to see what it was and heard someone spoke from behind me.
“What are you doing?” I looked up and saw Ricky looking at the monitor.
“I was looking for the newly installed program,” I responded.
“What program are you looking for?”
“There was a box here that says there was a new program installed so I’m looking for it to see what it is. Well, perhaps it’s just WordWeb,” I answered, glancing at him. “Didn’t you notice we have the fastest internet in the planet?”
Then he talked of him using a 1mbps internet speed and that he had to pay for it and followed it up with “I have told her [BF] about your personality and she says you’re . . . but I really think you are very boyish.” He even mimicked Manny Pacquiao’s boxing moves to make his point. Or perhaps it’s Tyson he’s emulating. Whatever.
“Well, you’re right. She’s wrong about me. Or maybe she’s just trying to defend or protect me. You’re right. Between your idea and hers, I’ll buy yours.”
He spoke more nodded, smiled and left.
Photo Sources:
Tomboy
