Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Sweet Talk

Me : Inta wain mwadeeni?(Where are you taking me?)
Him: Ana bardo illy mwadeeki?Da ana mashi waraki.(I am not.You're taking me/I'm following you.)
Me : Seriously where are we going?
Him: Zay ma t7ibi.(As you like.)
Me : Let's go to Marina mall.
Him(with a look of absolute horror on his face): The mall?Why?
Me : Mi7taja nadara ya K.(I need a pair of sunglasses)
Him: Ya nhari. Nadara? Da ana ageeblik elma7al kollo. (Basically he's saying my wish is his command and he would buy me an entire store of sunglasses if I wanted etc....Arabic flattery)
Me : La. Nadara wa7ida takfi. Yalla nroo7 elmall.(No. One pair is enough. Let's go to the mall.)
Him: Wihiya ya3ni elnadara lazim filmall?(But do we have to go to the mall for sunglasses?)
Me: Khalas ya 7abibi(It's ok baby ) ana I'll get it some other time.
Him: La ana ma7rimkeesh min 7aga(No I don't want to deprive you of anything). Bas ana ba2ool ya3ni ay ma7al nadarat yib2a akhaf min elmall.(All I'm saying is we can go to any optician's intead of going to the mall). Elwahid mish biyla2i(One can never find) parking and we'll be walking around there all evening.

Of course that was the whole point for me. I want to go window-shopping in the mall, walk around, see what else I might like, maybe pick up one or two other things etc...Exactly what he was trying to avoid.

So we go into Yateem Optics in Hamdan Street and in no time at all, I have my new pair of sunglasses and even a pair of brown contacts to go with my new haircolor.
But somehow am frustrated, not satisfied with my purchases. I would have enjoyed getting exactly the same things from the mall a lot more.

Why did I ever agree to let him drive us? When will I learn that when we go out together and it involves shopping I should always insist that we take my car?

So back in the car:

Him: Ha ti7ibi troo7i fain dilwa2ti?(So where would you like to go now?)
Me : Let's go for sheesha in Hiltonia. It's nice today. We can sit outside and look at the sea.
Him: Sheesha wi ba7r mashi(Sheesha by the sea is fine). Bas balash Hiltonia(But not Hiltonia).
Me : Laish?(Why?)
Him: Too many people you know.
Me : Tayeb ya3ni mara martain nsalim wo khalas.(So we'll say hello a couple of times and that's it.)
Him: Aiwa bas elmakan daya2 kida wana bisara7a batkhini2(Yeah but the place is too small and I find it suffocating).

I love Hiltonia. Have been going there practically all my life.

Me(between gritted teeth) : La salamtak(Arabic endearment meaning May Allah keep you safe - from suffocation in this case) ya 7abibi. Where would you prefer to go for sheesha?
Him: La ana ta7t amrik bas balash wilnabi (I'm at your service but for the love of the Prophet not Hiltonia)Hiltonia.
Me: 7adir.(Fine)
Him: Yi7adir lik elkhair.(Don't know how to translate that.)

So I start rattling off the names of all the sheesha places in Abu Dhabi. Two of them he doesn't like because they're not by the sea. One he doesn't like because the chairs have no handles and he doesn't know what to do with his arms when sitting there. One is no good because he doesn't like the music they play.

In end he decides that we'll just drive along the new Corniche until we find a place where he'd like to sit. I decide to keep my mouth shut.

We get to a place somewhere near the end of Alkasir. He parks the car & I get out without a word. It's a nice place. I don't mind it at all. What I do mind is that it was clear he didn't just stumble on it like he was pretending to, that it was where he'd wanted to come all along.

Every single time we go out, he gives me this crap like mashi waraki(following you) and ta7t amrik(at your service) and in the end we do what he wants. If he doesn't like a place or an activity then he will have nothing to do with it. Never. He's so stubborn.

I just don't know why he still bothers to sweet-talk me. It doesn't work anymore. It just insults my intelligence.

Who would have guessed that sweet talk could be so irritating?

Labels:

12 Comments:

Blogger Um Naief said...

I think when it comes down to it, a lot of men are like this. They sweet talk out of kindness, but already have a place set in their mind or a task set that they want to do.

Lucky in that he sweet talks you... he could be rude and not do anything w/ you, like so many men do in this part of the world.

11/08/2006 12:16:00 PM  
Blogger Alina said...

Well, Lou. He's a good diplomat and I think that's preferable to just dictating what to do with no sweet talk at all. I guess he is doing his best to compensate.

11/08/2006 02:51:00 PM  
Blogger GC said...

I'll disagree with the 2 comments above me. Artificial and insincere sweet-talking is worse than just being honest about what he wants to do.

11/08/2006 05:45:00 PM  
Blogger Alluring said...

It can get very frustrating; and they wouldn't know it is unless you confront them, coz men are under the impression that women, no matter what love to be sweet talked ALL THE FREAKING TIME.
"just put your cards on the table and say what you wanna do instead of going around the universe in circles dammit!!"

If i don't have a specific thing on mind, i just go wherever he wants to, i don't even ask or give an opinion, but if i wanna go somewhere specific, i tell him upfront and if he tries to talk me out of it, i give him the same answer over and over, like a broken record to make him understand that i wont listen, and i remind him that when he chose that certain place that other day i didn't complain.

It works every time, and now we know better :)

11/08/2006 07:28:00 PM  
Blogger Leilouta said...

Shopping is one thing I learned to enjoy doing without my husband's company.I took him with me a few times and I thought he was going to have a cow. He starts acting like a spoiled kid, sitting on benches and waits for me with a look of despair on his face.
We had a few fights at IKEA a long time ago. He likes to go straight for what he is after and I like to look around.

11/09/2006 02:46:00 AM  
Blogger Puppy said...

As long as it is not bothering you, let him sweet talk to you. And if you are not enojoying, tell him and also where in particular you want to go.

I support Alluring, since i am the same.
I like it to be my way if i set my mind on something, and i want everyone to respect and count my vote and decision. but of couse wihtout fights.

Have a good day,

Puppy.

11/09/2006 11:57:00 AM  
Blogger Haroun el Poussah said...

Too many terms of endeerment between you guys. Cut that off and a 5 min conversation would take 30 sec

11/09/2006 02:56:00 PM  
Blogger LouLou said...

Haroun,

"Cut that off and a 5 min conversation would take 30 sec"

Yeah but when we finish a 5 min conversation in 30 seconds then what do we do with the rest of the time?

I don't mind endearments or sweet talk in principle. I just mind them when they're being used to make it hard for me to express opposition or unhappiness for fear of looking churlish to someone who is being sweet & loving etc....That's not always a pleasant position to be in.

11/09/2006 04:40:00 PM  
Blogger 2B || ! 2B ® said...

Yi7adir lik elkhair :)
first of all i don't think the sweet talk and then do whatever the person wanted regardless all the conversations is a men issue, neither a women issue... it's a personality attitude you can find it in men and women as well :)

actually i used to think that it is a women issue long time ago :)

still the sweet talk has some great possibilities after all :)

11/09/2006 11:48:00 PM  
Blogger N said...

i think Egyptian men are born with a sweet talk fuse installed in their brain... if i recall correctly, it was the secret tool of every man i dated back home, i miss it a bit :) but God it's so bloody twisted!

11/10/2006 02:01:00 PM  
Blogger Forsoothsayer said...

psshh! egyptians. it does get irritating fe3lan.
i get my glasses from yateem optical too!

11/11/2006 12:50:00 PM  
Blogger Sou said...

I just love to read about your outings. About the sweet talks some think it is a good thing or females would feel neglected.
But my advice is do not let him down about this let him sweet talk you when he wants to.. ;D I bet sometimes you enjoy it.

11/12/2006 12:34:00 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home