Does Anyone Else Get These Stupid Questions Regularly?

[waerth]

So just now I went downstairs in my condo because I wanted to buy some eggs to make a fried egg with cheese on bread. Nothing unusual I have been buying eggs there for close to 15 years.

 

I walk out of the shop and a woman whom has been living as long at the condo as I have and whom cuts my hair shouts out ..... oh wow the farang eats eggs leh .......

I came close to blowing a fuse as I hear these kind of stupid remarks so many times, even from people whom have known me for a long time that I am seriously starting to wonder about this country from time to time .

 

I ask the lady why a farang shouldn't eggs. She says, she had never realized people ate eggs outside of Thailand (and she was serious). So I ask her if people in Laos do not eat eggs, and she thought they would not, as eggs are a "Thai" thing.

 

I get these kind of stupid remarks so many times in a week, it really gets on my nervs.

 

Just last Saturday we are eating somewhere with the comedy group, with whom I have played for over 10 years and shared 3000 meals or so and I ask for the rice bowl and one of them says ..... oh you can eat rice leh .... .

 

Same with tea, noodles, sticky rice, som tam etc etc etc.

 

Like I said it gets on my nervs!

[TheCorinthian]

No.

[zzzz]

Maybe they were just trying to strike up a conversation by saying things like "so, you are buying eggs now. I have never seen you buy eggs during the many years that i have known you." Something in that vein may have been what they had in mind but because of language differences or difficulties, it fell short. Tone counts a lot -- was it said nicely or in a mean tone? I get it all the time but in a friendly tone.

[Coss]

Here in the glorious people's republic of idiocy, I always get conversations between the Lao on the fact that I can eat 98% of the Lao food put on the table.

[zzzz]

... I can eat 98% of the Lao food put on the table.

 

That is amazing I bet not even an average Laotian is capable of that, but I recall, from reading your posts over the years, that you like eating exotic foods.

[Flashermac]

I don't hear such things in Bangkok, but I did when I lived upcountry. I don't know how many times I was asked, "Which do you like better, bread or rice?" Well, when making a sandwich, I definitely prefer bread. On the other hand, I'm not too keen on dunking my bread into tom yang goong.

 

And a university student once asked me in all seriousness why Farangs don't like garlic. We don't?

 

However, Bangkok taxi drivers often ask me if I can eat Thai food, even after we may have been chatting in Thai for the last 15 minutes. Do they think I eat all my meals at McDonald's and Pizza Hut?

[Flashermac]

Here in the glorious people's republic of idiocy, I always get conversations between the Lao on the fact that I can eat 98% of the Lao food put on the table.

 

And only 2% is left for everyone else?

[Dumsoda]

Only when he's not overly hungry......LOL

 

:neener:

[The_Munchmaster]

I get these kind of stupid remarks so many times in a week, it really gets on my nervs

 

Perhaps you just need to live amongst / associate with different people, preferably more intelligent ones?

[JaiRai]

I lost count of the times I've been out for lunch with a few Thai co-workers, and some other folks want to come along and enthusiastically tell the Thais how much they love Thai food. So we get to the restaurant and they all order the same thing: Pad Thai.

 

I just pitch in my money with the Thais as they always order several dishes and share: Pad prik gaeng goong (don't know that one in English), Spicy basil shrimp on rice with the fried egg (Pad ka prow - kai dow), Tom Yam, Som Tam Lao with Pork Jerky and sticky rice, Panaeng Curry (the Thai co-workers get this layout almost every time which suits me fine).

 

Anyway, most of the dishes are spicy, haha. Which people say, oh yes, I like spicy. But when the meal comes they won't touch it. Or a small taste. So we end up in two groups. It's in good fun and nothing bad spirited, but... yeah.

 

Also, strangers tend to ask those 3 almost EVERY time - do you REALLY eat bugs? How can you do that. And people laugh, but I can see they grow tired of the subject after a point.