After a long day, I entered the Haldiram food outlet at the Sahara Mall this weekend. I was exhausted and hungry. Worse. There was a long queue. The lady at the counter buying food coupons was confused. One Chola Bhatura…no…Two Aloo Tikki…Okay. Make it one Chola Bhatura and one Aloo Tikki.
Gosh..Woman, make up your mind. In that moment I was thinking like a man.
There was more.
Finally when the confused lady left, I was behind four gentlemen in the queue. Suddenly a pleasant smell invaded my nostrils. Dior…or was it Ralph Lauren. A perfectly crafted female aware of her potent looks barged in. She had perhaps picked up her body parts from a catalogue. The femme fatale went ahead and placed her order. Unmindful of the long queue she said… “One veg sandwich.”
“Hello, lady. There is a queue here,” I protested.
She gave me a disdainful look and said, “I am in a hurry. I just want one sandwich.”
So? Didn’t I wait for good fifteen minutes for one dosa? In order to garner support, I looked at the uncle ji ahead of me.
Unccle ji’s gaze was fixed somewhere else….Just below her neck. Overawed by the bombshell and her attitude, he didn’t speak a word.
Meanwhile the lady paid, and went ahead to get her veg sandwich. I was still standing in the queue. I looked at the gentleman behind me. His eyes were following the femme fatale. There was no point expecting help.
How often do we use gender and looks it to our advantage?
Being a woman coupled with drop dead gorgeous looks, can make things easier.
To get a seat if people are jostling or to get an auto if it is getting dark is fine. But to break the queue, to avoid parking offences, or to neglect work using ‘I am a woman card’ is nauseating!
Aww you should have thrown a fit and complained loudly to the attendant at the counter!!
ReplyDeletethats right.. some women do use there 'assets' to get things done and in my opinion they the worst of the kind.
ReplyDeleteGood to know that u dont endorse such things...coz i hate such women who use their prowess to get things done!!
ReplyDelete@Purba...I guess I should have..but it happened so fast...
ReplyDelete@Deepika...Yes, such women are aware of their looks and try to take undue advantage.
ReplyDelete@Ria...I abhor such excuses...I am in a hurry, I have a baby at home or simply I am a woman na so I am entitled to special privileges.
Ma'm,
ReplyDeleteyou might be the only supporter we have in the women camp. The funny part is even if there is a male accompanying such females- they allow females to pierce through the crowd and get them a ticket while they wait at the back. Strategic ? Yes :P . Not that it is something which defines masculinity but if you can, you must play fair.
The other thing which bothers me is the rising anti-female thing which male population is starting to have of late. It might be an ambitious extrapolation but I notice this in Metro coaches these days. A lot of people are there of the opinion ( and are very strident in saying so ) that females should ONLY be the first coach of the metro and no where else. 'This' is in direct contrast with the accomodating stance which people normally had when there was no seperate coach... Maybe this all is just like what happened to an otherwise secular ,and 'religiously innocent', Shabana Azmi when she was refused an apartment on grounds of her religion in Mumbai. She told she got conscious of her muslim identity after that... Sad it is !
No wonder woman criteria everytime...
ReplyDeleteaptly said in last para
yaep i agree with you.......!! i always believe in woman power....
ReplyDeleteJai Ho mangalmay HO
sritatsat...I did not exactly get 'anti-female thing' you are talking about. Yes, it is easy to ask a woman to buy tickets if the queue is long.
ReplyDeleteDelhi is famous for men groping women in crowded places. However just because of these few handful of lechers, everyone is painted with the same brush. And then, certain women start taking advantage of privileges.What about men who are sick or elderly? Or carrying heavy luggage? No one thinks about them.
About Shabana, I was not aware. The point is no one should take undue advantage of gender or religion.
@Beyond Horizon...A study shows that 88% women use gender to get out of situations. They say, it is the easiest way to get out...
ReplyDelete@Vish...Thank you for reading.
Getting the things done is the buzzword these days. the whole management concept is about this simple aspect. talk, show off, lie, seduce, tempt, but ultimately my work should happen.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post !! RESPECT ! I have seen many women taking advantages of their feminineness to get such favors mentioned in the post. Its really degrading to women and a blow to the women rights movement.
ReplyDeleteYou should have fought for your place--Rightful place.
ReplyDelete@Harish....Absolutely agree. Means do not matter only the end does...sad.
ReplyDelete@DG....Yes, such incidents paint all the other women with the same brush. Undue advantage of privileges is just not done.
ReplyDelete@BK Chowla...It all happened so fast..I guess I should have. There are moments when you are so tired that dont want to confront..
Lol, all this coming from the XX end of the spectrum! Interesting!
ReplyDelete4 years in an engineering college and 2 doing MBA, I've taken certain things for granted. One of them is the fact that if you're a bomb, you're golden especially with some buttons unbuttoned.
@MangoMan...lol.
ReplyDeleteI know, being a woman, it was a bit disconcerting for me to write this post.
True. It is an uncomfortable reality.
These men! You can never get support from these flirting men, especially when femme fatale is showcasing her ASSET!
ReplyDeleteYou should have shouted at her to get the attention of others!
Hi Alka,
ReplyDeleteIt felt as if it was my experience as well. Many many times, while shopping with my wife, I find queue breakers. To extent of sounding anti-women :), I would say they are 90% of total line breakers. Sometimes they approach person standing in the front of the line and do not even bother to look at the people behind.
Yesterday while shopping for groceries, I almost had a fight with two men who informed me in a rude manner 'We have only two items". My response was "I have only three" but I am not breaking the line.
I believe people are getting rude by the day and there is nothing that can stop them. But it is still great to find a lot of people who still do not break the line.
I am almost having fight every single time going to shopping these days. My wife simply avoids any conflict and stays far away from the queue I am standing in.
Thanks and regards,
Ashvini
Well said... Women use their looks most of the times.. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou let her go, did not you?? The same happened to uncle ji's , reasons may be different..
ReplyDeleteAnd yes the women card i splayed so often and yet so ignored it is this time that u were at the receiving end that u noticed, a lot of time it simply goes unnoticed and unpunished