Did you know that traditional Chinese outfits have become really HIP in the United States?
Now what is a “traditional Chinese outfit“, you may ask?
Well I don't know... you tell me! But I have several, and one of them is this really pretty coat that I found at a Taipei boutique shop last year (誠品書店).
Most of the time, when I wear it to parties with my friends or even just to the local supermarket, I get a lot of compliments and people think I am SO COOL. Yeah!
Although, the people at my local bank may beg to differ...
The other day, I was in a mad rush to get to the bank before it closed and was running around like a chicken with its head cut off! I didn't skip a beat in finding great parking spaces, dashing in and out of buildings, grabbing what I needed to grab, and filling out paperwork as needed. Even the teller at the bank was super fast, allowing me to make my counter deposit in less than 60 seconds!
I was impressed with both myself and with her... up until the moment I asked to borrow her stapler.
I wanted to staple the deposit slip to my paperwork, and she held the stapler for me from across the counter as I tried to do this, but instead of just stapling the documents together -- and mind you I was already facing the door ready to exit the bank ASAP -- she also managed to staple my coat sleeve along with.
Yep.
There I stood with my deposit slip and paperwork stapled to the sleeve of my beautiful Chinese coat, and a kazillion people anxiously waiting in line behind me, watching as these events unfold.
I took a deep breath, looked at the teller looking back at me, paused for a brief moment to reflect upon my life as it were -- it was as if the whole world stopped spinning just for this to happen -- and then lost it.
It was SO FUNNY.
As I stood there looking like a complete idiot and laughing my head off, she feebly asked if I wanted to borrow her staple remover to which I politely said "No thank you..." (what are you nuts?!), and the rest I'll leave to one's imagination.
So much for being a “cool” Chinese American... sigh...