Aging

Three weeks ago, we want to the small market in OCT. My 7 years old daughter was very interested in a necklace. So I encouraged her to ask for price by herself. Not many people were shopping although it was the Saturday afternoon, I guess it is normal for that area and that special market.

So she approached to the girl and asked: A yi (aunt), how much does this one cost please?

The girl and another girl sitting beside her broke into a loudly laugh, it was so brutal and loud that both me and my daughter was astonished there. Then one girl repeated my daughter's word: "A yi" to another girl and they laughed again.

I figured out that they were laughing because they think they should be addressed as "jie jie" which means that they look much older in my daughter's eyes than they expected.

I was a little annoyed by the girls rudeness so we just left. But my daughter couldn't forget the necklace so we returned there and still bought it later.

Then again yesterday, we went out with her classmate, the kids were asking for directions from a girl and again addressed her as "A yi". This girl didn't show she was annoyed but later on the classmate's mom told the girls" you'd better call a girl jiejie."

I was thinking about this and it is just very silly in my eyes. But I do remember when I was about 20 years old, I was addressed as older sister by a man looks in his 30's, and that was the first time in my life of feeling the threatening of aging.

However now I don't mind about my age anymore. 20 or 40, really no difference in my eyes. Besides I will never teach my daughter to lie so I will always encourage her to address other people base on her own feeling and judgement.