Watch Your Mouth
Some guy spit on Brendan yesterday. It was an accident, but my husband is not the kind of person who can handle being spit on, even unintentionally. Still, he kept the rage under control pretty well. But I should explain. Here in India, people spit a lot. Men, women, children, grandmothers etc. Sometimes it's just regular spit, sometimes it's food, sometimes it's chewed up betel nut, sometimes it's hard to classify. I personally find spitting of any kind really disgusting (if it goes in, it stays in!), but you know, we're in India. Whatever.
Not only do people spit a lot, but there are just too many of us. Walking down a fairly wide street is a huge test in patience and agility, as pedestrians must constantly dodge cars, auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, motorcycles, and cows coming from all directions at all times honking their horns maniacally (in their defense, the cows are pretty quiet). There is no order. There is no way around it. You must propel yourself forwardish and hope for the best.
So when some guy decides to spit and his projectile saliva lands in your personal space (in this case, all over Brendan's exposed toes), there's not much you can do. Especially when the spitter realizes what he's done and starts falling all over himself apologizing (in English, which I must say was a nice touch). Poor Brendan. He was so grossed out, and we were nowhere near our hotel so he could clean up. But instead of freaking out and starting to cry (something not beyond the realm of possibility had it been my toes), my brave husband kept the profanity under his breath, did a little dance to shake off whatever moisture he could from his foot, grabbed my hand, and thrust our bodies back into the madness toward the New Delhi train station.
Bravo, honey. Bravo.
-Sarah
Comments
Ew...
At least the guy apologized. Although perhaps a punch in the face would be more fun.
Ick. Yes, Bravo, Bren, Bravo!!!!
First, congrats to you newly weds! Next, come to Malaysia (if you ever come back that way), you won't find people spitting on anyones toes (i hope so Haha)... If you're ever in Kuala Lumpur, contact me and i might just bring you around!
I used to enjoy reading your post until you guys started writing about India. I'm sorry to say that I have noticed that you guys haven't written anything good about India so far. I understand that it might be a major cultural shock for you guys to be here. But I'm sure you would have had some nice experience in India which you can share with us.
Please don't disappoint me. I don't want to go into I love your post to I hate your post mode :(
-Indu
this is why brendan rules. i miss you guys on G4. its barely watchable now.. what are they trying to be? Spike TV?
Sarah I am not sure how well you knew James from TechTV but I thought you might want to know about what happened to him here this week.
So awesome, you guys are here now! Congrats. Love the blog and podcast! Miss you guys SO MUCH on G4. i dont watch it anymore anyways.
LOL, you should have got it on tape.
Though I understand how New Delhi must feel... I was there this past summer, I can TOTALLY relate... traffic coming in from all directions, the heat, the spit, the pretty nasty roads n the nasty guys staring at you. However I have to say in defense of the Indian ppl that they are awesome! They are soooooooo friendly, soooooo loving and just simply amazing... All the people I visited were so caring and simply amazing... you cant just walk in India to experience it... you simply have to bond with India to truly experience India... personally altho I hated the numerous mosquito bites n the insanity... I loved the friendliness, the genuine caring, the beauty and the charm that is India...
Wow, great job on keeping his cool!
"But instead of freaking out and starting to cry (something not beyond the realm of possibility had it been my toes), my brave husband kept the profanity under his breath"
... I'm not sure why, but I thought that sentence was hilarious given the context of the story.
I'm really proud of you guys. You've stuck with it and you're tough and brave and fun to read!
I agree with aunt sue
B******* !! Thats what I can think of. We are not indulged in tonsil hockey and pumping one's saliva into another one's mouth, madam. Which according to you seems to be more hygenic ?
Why in the world are you in New Delhi. I'm an American born Indian, so I kinda relate to both sides of the discussion. Thing is, if you really want to have a good experience in India, you should have done some research first. New Delhi or any huge metropolitan city is the last place you wanna go if you want to experience the Indian culture. Perhaps your should have gone into the snowy mountains or maybe down south to the gorgeous beaches. Either way, you would have gotten a much better experience.
By the way, its not part of the Indian culture to spit all the time. You must be really short on cash or something and staying in the slums....
Camels anyone?
Who needs to go to India to experience that? Just visit selected areas of Canada. Sorry to sound jaded, but I'm now culturally uncomfortable in my own country. Ewwwww...
Ur guy must really be brave not to turn the other guy into smash potato. It is not easy for a guy to accept such thing, anyway thanks, now we know what to expect in India.
To Lesley ^^
You're joking about people not spitting all the time, right? :)
I jst discovered ur blog today n really liked the way both of u relate to each other n share the trials n triumphs of living life in tandem. Abt seein the scathing criticism of ur posts on India, I really do think it's rather uncalled for! I mean I live in Mumbai, love India and have travelled to its far corners. But apart from the fabulous history and culture we have, I do know that public hygiene and manners are lacking, esp from the western perspective. In fact, I wrote a newspaper article on the reasons for the same... here's the link... maybe it'll give some people some ammo, both pro and against your views ;)
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA2LzExLzI2I0FyMDQ5MDA=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
A suggestion? If u've the time, do visit places like world heritage site Hampi, Pondicherry's French quarter, Kerala, Goa and Kanha, Ranthambhore (wildlife sanctuaries), etc. Plenty 2 see!
Meanwhile, all the best and keep it real. Like you guys have been doing so well already :)
Priya, you don't have to support them just to make your article famous. We are not criticising them unnecessarily. They are exaggerating the obvious and ignoring the good things about India. We are trying to point that out here.
Hope you understand that and write an article. You will have more readers on your side then.
