I Now Pronounce You Man and Cashier?

This evening I ran out to Carefour, a French-owned grocery super store with locations all over Thailand. I picked up a few things and headed to the the check out lines.

Fortunately I only had a few things. The conveyor belts at Thai stores are very short and the clerks are often extraordinarily slow. Instead of bagging at the end, the clerks bag as they go. That is not a problem by itself, but when the clerk spends thirty seconds deciding which item to ring up next so that it goes in the correct bag, it slows things down a lot.

I found a short line with no wait. It was a small cash only lane, with another lane immediately adjacent to it. The clerk asked me something in Thai, and I said in Thai that I did not understand her, and that I only spoke a little Thai. She informed me that she spoke medium English. I wasn't quite sure why she was telling me this, perhaps she wanted me to know if I had any questions that I could ask in English.

The clerk at the adjacent lane said something in Thai to me. I didn't catch it at first, so I asked her in Thai to repeat it slowly. This time I caught the word "fan", which means spouse or girlfriend. I responded in Thai that I did have a Thai wife.

She then told me that I her friend, the clerk waiting on me, was looking for a boyfriend. For a second I thought, "do I look like I'm from Gallop Polls or something", until I realized from the look on their faces that they were considering me to fill that role. So I said again "me fan" (already have a wife). The other clerk kept saying "mai me, mai me", which means do not have. I was not quite sure if she didn't believe that I had a wife, or that perhaps I had misunderstood and thought that her friend already had a boyfriend.

Then the looking for love in the wrong person clerk asked me where I was from. I told her the U.S., and she responded that she was from Chiang Mai. I said that Chiang Mai was beautiful.

At this point, she had rung up all six of my items, so I was able to leave. I'm grateful that I wasn't doing a full week's shopping, or she may have brought her family out.

I don't for a second think that the woman found me attractive. She saw a falang around the same age as her, who wasn't too fat or too ugly, and that attracted her. A fair number of Thai people think that all foreigners are rich, and comparatively speaking its usually true. A foreign guy can provide the financial security that a lot of Thai women won't have any other way. Before we become too judgemental, remember that doctors and other wealthy professionals in America are often considered a "catch".