"It's not you, it's me."

Sounds familiar?

It's probably the #1 break-up line.

I think it's pathetic. Well...I used it once, but that's another story.

Emang sih kadang2 orang pake alesan itu because they don't want to hurt the other person's feelings. But don't you think it's better to tell the truth than lying? Kali aja kalo orang itu tau salahnya di mana, dia bisa coba belajar dari pengalaman itu and coba berubah jadi lebih baek lagi. Tapi yang namanya mutusin someone that we once loved or still love pasti susah banget, apapun alesannya, and that line seems to be a shortcut when we don't want to give any long explanation. Then it depends on the other person to accept it or say, "Go to hell!"

Kayaknya cowok lebih banyak pake alesan itu daripada kita, cewek. Kita cenderung lebih suka menjelaskan panjang lebar, sedangkan cowok lebih "males" or maybe because they know that we'll cry for days. Padahal shortcut or not, kita tetep bakalan cry for days, right? Jadi gak tau kenapa cowok2 itu mikir there's an easy excuse to break-up with us, and they also think that cewek2 lebih suka and gampang diboongin! Gak ada di dunia ini yang suka diboongin guys and we always find out.

Or maybe I'm wrong? Are there some people who actually like to be lied to?

How Spontaneous Are We?

Me: "Hi. How are you?"
Customer: "Oh no. Thank you. I'm just looking."

What's up with that?

Seems to me that customers don't even know or hear what I say when I greet them at the store. It's either that they put all of their attention to the store merchandise the minute they walk into the store [which is great, and hopefully they'll buy something], or they think that "Hi. Can I help you?" is the only greeting taught in the "sales customers handbook." So they just response spontaneously without knowing exactly what the salespeople actually say.

Even though I meet those kind of people every single day, gue tetep ngerasa itu lucu, and it's hard not to laugh. So I usually just put a big smile on my face, my biggest smile if possible, and hoping that the customers think I'm the nicest salesperson they've ever met.

Being 18

In the American culture, umur 18 tuh udah dianggep an adult. Makanya parents di sini menganggap anak2 yang udah turn 18 harus mulai kerja and support dirinya sendiri. Makanya juga banyak orang yang keluar dari rumah ortunya begitu umur 18 karna mereka ngerasa harus. Kalopun mereka masih tinggal bareng ortunya, mereka musti bayar rent, gak bisa lagi deh tinggal gratis. In some way, that's a good thing, orang jadi mandiri. But on the other hand, that puts pressure on some people.

A friend of mine is thinking about moving out of her parents' house. She's gonna be 19 next week. Because of that and because of she earns about $1,000 a month, she thinks she can support herself now. She pays rent to her mom about $200 a month, sometimes her moms asks her to pay and buy food for the family. Gara2 itu, temen gue jadi mikir, "Ngapain gue tinggal 'ma nyokap gue? Gue bayar rent tapi harus ikutan bayar ini itu buat the whole family, belon lagi harus tetep nurutin rulesnya nyokap. Mendingan gue share apartment 'ma temen gue, gue bakalan ngeluarin jumlah duit yang sama kok tanpa harus ngikutin rules siapa2."

Now, she's looking for an apartment, and she said to me that she'll be paying about $400 a month because most of the regular apartments around here range between $900 to $1,200 for 2 beds and 2 baths. She said she can afford that because she's making $1,000 a month. Gue ampe terheran2 dengernya. Kok dia bisa mikir segampang itu? Yahhh umur 19 tuh masih termasuk ABG kalo di Indo, and emang dia gak bisa disalahin untuk mikir kayak begitu karna she grew up with that kind of culture.

Gue masih dalam proses menjelaskan ke dia, bukannya gue sok tua or anything. Tapi gue gak mau liat dia susah aja, and juga karna dia nanya if Cippi and I want to share the apartment with her. Susah banget sih ngejelasin ke dia. Gue udah bilang kalo tinggal sendiri itu gak gampang. $1,000 itu gak akan cukup, biarpun apartmentnya udah termasuk gas, water, and trash. Sign up apartment kan pasti butuh deposit, t'rus electricity and laundry, belon lagi dia pasti mau beli TV or perlu ini itu buat apartmentnya. T'rus dia juga musti mikirin transport ke tempat kerja, karna selama ini dia selalu dianterin one of her family members. Gue ampe gregetan aja argue 'ma dia. Menurut gue, sekarang bukan waktu yang tepat buat dia tinggal sendiri. Kenapa dia gak tahan2in aja tinggal 'ma nyokapnya and her rules, at least dia gak perlu pusing mikirin expense ini itu, laundry gratis, listrik, water and gas juga gratis. $200 a month for rent is not bad at all, and apa salahnya sih sekali2 ikutan keluar duit buat food or anything else for the family. Kalo dia emang beneran desperate mau pindah, yahhh rent a room aja di rumah orang kan bisa. Biarpun menurut gue tetep lebih baek lagi kalo dia nunggu 2 or 3 years lagi ampe dia dapet a better job with better benefits.

Gue 'ma Cippi aja masih mikir 1000 kali waktu diajakkin share apartment 'ma temen gue itu. Padahal kita jauh lebih mampu daripada temen gue itu dalam hal income, tapi pikiran kita lebih jauh aja daripada dia. Yahhh itulah, different cultural backgrounds, gimana gue bisa bikin dia ngerti? Di Indo sih kita bisa tinggal seumur idup 'ma ortu kita kalo mau, and biarpun kita gak perlu bayar rent, but yahhh pasti dong kita bantuin ortu kita dikit2 for the monthly expenses.

Well...I'm still hoping I can change her mind.

Thought for Today

"Bila kamu tidak memiliki apa yang kamu sukai, kamu harus menyukai apa yang kamu miliki. Sebab apa yang kamu anggap kurang pada sesuatu yang kamu miliki, bisa berarti lebih bagi orang lain yang menginginkan sesuatu seperti milikmu."

- Taken from Melanie's blog.