High Maintenance Girl
This blog was inspired by a few things…
1) A comment my sisters’ once made… That of the 3 of us, the one mostly to marry a rich man would be me…
2) A complaint from my car-smart, male counterpart of the Nightbirds, that it is really expensive to be my friend… (Ok… Ivan is at fault too… But you get the idea…)
3) A life of independence in Dhaka, away from home… You learn about a side of yourself you never knew before…
4) A particular show on Star World called “Outback Jack”… I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m sure I will… It will pop up one day when I’m really bored and sitting in front of the telly watching whatever comes on… Based on the ads, it’s a reality tv show where 12 uptown girls (think Paris Hilton) are literally thrown into the Australian Outback and expected to survive…It’s the kind of show that I’d love to laugh at, trash and declare with all confidence that I’m not like them… (Mind you, when people say and think things like that, they are actually in denial)
5) A passing remark made by a rather peculiar lab rat that I’d spoken to on MSN… Somehow this phrase “high maintenance chick” just came up…
I tell you… All the signs were telling me to blog this…
I had always thought of myself as a low maintenance, simple kind of girl…The kind who never asked for much, never needed much, and never bothered much with anything… Thrown in a harsh place, I’d be able to live quite simply… Hardy like…
I was totally deluded…
There’s absolutely nothing like living on your own to really clear your head…Cos I realized that it takes a lot of money, time and energy to support myself… Even wits! Not even sure if that’s a good or bad thing… You know what I’m saying or not? (If you say that last phrase fast enough, you’d sound like one of my avid readers…I’m sure he’ll know who he is…)
Before I go on, just let me clarify what I mean by high maintenance… I know guys have their own ideas… Like girls who require ALL of their time, Girls who need to have their bags carried for them, Girls who need to be sent home everyday… I’m not talking about that… That’s between a guy and a girl… Not the same issue here… No guy… And won’t be a guy for a long long time… I’m talking about me maintaining myself see… High Maintenance… Essentially, I’m complaining about how difficult it is to keep myself alive…
Give you some examples…
Personal Maintenance: I can’t just live on my facial cleanser anymore… I’ve started using toner and moisturizer… The whole three step thing… And that takes time… I actually get bothered when my hair looks bad… I used to not care how bad it looked as long as I could tie it up… To watch my weight and health, I’ve been trying to cut down on my sugar and oil and egg intake… been taking my vitamins regularly… and might be starting my exercise regime in my room… It used to take 5 mins to prep myself… Now I take about half an hour!
Clothing: I’m still wearing my jeans and tees with sweater… but I already got a Punjabi to wear to functions… Wore it to my boss’ home during Eid… Planning to get more for work… Assimilating into the culture here… and a nice sari to keep… Started to be concerned about my clothes matching… (Perhaps I might even make a nice sari to wear at my sister’s wedding… Hope she okays it…) I never trusted my taste in clothes… but I’m still gonna go shopping for them anyway… And I’m sure I’d be able to at least tell what looks nice on me…
Domestic Arts: I can’t trust clothes that aren’t washed in a machine! I’m really trying to rethink that one… There’s no machine around here and I really don’t know how to wash my own clothes properly… I spend hours doing my laundry… And yet they still seem a wee bit dirty after washing… (Mummy! Help!) I could barely iron my own Punjabi… Never used to iron my clothes…I’d just ask my maid to do it for me… But now, I want to have nicely pressed clothes and I’m making myself learn to iron!
Still get very annoyed when I have to wash my own dishes… How come it takes so many utensils to have one meal?? And I’m a fussy eater but I can’t cook anything except instant noodles for myself when I’m hungry… Still looking for the familiar instant preparation food I had when I was back home in NTU hostel… Not too different from those other uptown girls in “Outback Jack”… Ok, at least I dun go around the desert looking for outlets for Eh-leck-tron-necks... (Electronics)
Recreation: Ref #2 above… It takes money to keep me occupied… Back home, I took part in a lot expensive activities like shopping for expensive useless silver collectibles… playing pool & bowling (but I cut down on those)… taking photos… driving a lot and wasting petrol… watching a lot of movies… always eating at expensive food joints and drinking coffee and chilling out at overpriced cafes…
Over here, I find myself still looking for the same kind of activities even though it’s a poor country… And when I can’t maintain it… I just think about continuing my old lifestyle the moment I get home…What’s wrong with me? I thought I was supposed to be learning to be more comfortable with myself and with less material things… So much for that eh…
But before I get my whole family worried that I’m upset again or something… Allow me to clarify… I’m fine… I’m ok… It’s just a realization of how much it takes to keep me… Mum, Dad, you’ve been doing a great job all my life…
It’s really not too bad being a high maintenance girl actually…
I know for a fact that I go for quality in things… i.e. what I buy must last… It has to be hardy so that I can use it for a much longer time… I wouldn’t settle for anything less, most of the time…
I know I have an expensive and exquisite taste… But hey… That applies to all things including people! So all my good friends can proudly say that they were exquisitely chosen… Now, how cool is that?
I’ve been in Dhaka for what, 3 weeks? And I’m still alive and kicking! No crying and wanting to go home… Even though I’m still getting used to my power getting cut off and water running out and no broadband access whenever I want it… I’m still adapting…
I’m also trying to learn to relate to very strange people at work and at Pathshala… Can’t been too spoilt and pampered anymore…
In the past three weeks, I’d also spent less than what I am given for 2 weeks… Think my dad should be very proud of me…
And besides, being a high maintenance girl, the odds of actually marrying a rich man in future is actually upped in my favour! cos only those who can afford to support you will dare to make a move…
So, all you high maintenance girls out there… Keep your heads up! You’re definitely worth it! =)
posted by thebemusedphotog @ 1:00 PM
9 Comments:
Good luck to your quest for your rich boyfriend. Though I must say that part of me is wishing that you'd fall head over heels over some guy in some sort of financial trouble. You'd learn the value of money then. Furthermore, in the case of a rich bf, you'd never know if you act love him, or just his money. If you act can love some guy who is financially troubled, then the love would be so much stronger than otherwise. I guess that's what matters.
ok... i think there's a fundamental flaw in the whole argument... There's an assumption that it is not possible to love a rich guy... That girls can only truly love a guy who is broke or in financial debt... if that were the case, then all the rich guys out there would be very sad...
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'Furthermore, in the case of a rich bf, you'd never know if you act love him, or just his money'
I didn't say its not possible to love a rich guy. Its just that you will never know how deep the love is. When he is rich, he can provide for you, give you what you want, drive you around, and countless other things. The true test comes when all these are gone. Especially if he is being humiliated, and treated like dirt, cause image and reputation is actually also another asset.
If you still love him then, the love you have for him is real. It wouldn't matter if he has money or not in such a case.
I would be careful of Bangladeshi guys who appear too nice and polite. Story has it that they play with women's hearts, make young girls fall in love with them and then dump them like trash. So becareful Gwen.
story has it that these men in Bangladesh get all excited about foreign women and want to experiment with them or at least see if they can make these girls fall in love with them.
some guys who say to their gf that they are poor and stuff really want the gf to spend the money on them. they take advantage of the gf. there are many where you are. these guys see a nice foreign girl loaded with money, they say nice things in order to go to their country or take money from the gf and then ditch the girl.
to the anonymous guy/gal with suggestion about falling in love with men with no money.
dude, if you're looking for a gal/guy to love you like that, you have one. you just need to find who that is. you just need the courage to ask him/her. he/she does not care whether you have money,car, house, degrees. he/she loves you just the way you are and will love you even if you were all broke and naked. you're waisting time reading someone else's blog. read her/his blog, there's plenty about you.
Is the first anonymous guy trying to make Gwyn fall in love with him with his stories of how poor, broke, and insignigicant he is in this world? Dude, don't you have life and better things to do?
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