Saturday, April 7, 2007

Is It Correct?

I was reading fleck33's post on his blog Kopi Siu Tai, Don't Look Down on 5 Cents, referred from ping.sg. In it, he/she described how his/her Good Friday was ruined when a kopi stall auntie advised him/her not to give so many 5 cent coins next time - maximum 2. The number of 5c coins he gave?

4.

I would really make noise if I was paid 10 5c coins and above, but 4 is a perfectly countable amount for goodness' sake. Unless the auntie's suggesting that counting to 4 is difficult for her.

In contrast, I'd just finished a beef yakiniku meal at the school canteen about a week ago, and I was going to get my mandatory Coke Lime when Hans tompanged me to get a Coke for him as well. Being Hans, he gave me a combo of about 7 20c and 10c coins to make up a dollar. And being the typical nice guy, I did the same for my dollar. As the auntie set the two cans in front of me, I started to feel abit guilty as I let the coins ring into her hand, so I said in Chinese, 'Um... is it correct?' and I lingered around till she confirmed that I had given the right amount.

The funny thing is that the moment I walked away from the drinks stall, I started smiling, then started laughing as my eyes made contact with Hans's. Sliding his Coke to him across the table, I said, 'You could see the words printed all across her face.'

'SIAN JI PUA!' we said together, then started laughing hysterically.

I must say, it's fun to have a hidden devil in you sometimes.

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