A day in the life of a Bangkok pastor
Okay - today has just been one of those days. Let me give it to you in order.
(1) Had a dream about dinosaurs last night. My son is obsessed with them and it has worked it's way into my subconscious. It was a nightmare really... being chased by a T-Rex. I thought I'd outgrown that stuff.
(2) Went to the gym this morning. I was in the locker room getting cleaned up afterwards and a woman walks in. Takes a locker and begins to get her workout gear ready. Not only was I disturbed that a woman was in the men's locker room, but I couldn't figure out why I was the only one who seemed off put. Then I figured out she wasn't really a she. She was a katoey. Katoeys are Thailands middle sex. Men that live much of their lives as women. So then I had to figure out why I was uncomfortable. Was it the discomfort of having a woman in the men's room? Was it some latent homophobia? All I know is that it seemed inappropriate. But I guess she/he can't really be in the women's locker area either.
(3) Went to my 10am meeting. Turns out it started at 9am. No worries. One less hour wasted.
(4) I had a lunch scheduled at 12. I had planned to go look at a new microphone and then scoot to the lunch. This meant I could look at microphones at my leisure. So I went to the store. But I couldn't go in. They had monks there blessing the store. A small store was packed wall to wall with people making merit. "They'll be done at noon" the security guard said. I guess I'll have to go back next week.
(5) So now I have even MORE time to kill before lunch. So I go to a bookstore. I'm browsing the Thai language books. There is one called "Practical Thai". I open it to a random page and here is the dialogue.
"Do you sell guns here?"
"Of course, what color and make would you like?"
UNBELIEVABLE!!! :-)
(1) Had a dream about dinosaurs last night. My son is obsessed with them and it has worked it's way into my subconscious. It was a nightmare really... being chased by a T-Rex. I thought I'd outgrown that stuff.
(2) Went to the gym this morning. I was in the locker room getting cleaned up afterwards and a woman walks in. Takes a locker and begins to get her workout gear ready. Not only was I disturbed that a woman was in the men's locker room, but I couldn't figure out why I was the only one who seemed off put. Then I figured out she wasn't really a she. She was a katoey. Katoeys are Thailands middle sex. Men that live much of their lives as women. So then I had to figure out why I was uncomfortable. Was it the discomfort of having a woman in the men's room? Was it some latent homophobia? All I know is that it seemed inappropriate. But I guess she/he can't really be in the women's locker area either.
(3) Went to my 10am meeting. Turns out it started at 9am. No worries. One less hour wasted.
(4) I had a lunch scheduled at 12. I had planned to go look at a new microphone and then scoot to the lunch. This meant I could look at microphones at my leisure. So I went to the store. But I couldn't go in. They had monks there blessing the store. A small store was packed wall to wall with people making merit. "They'll be done at noon" the security guard said. I guess I'll have to go back next week.
(5) So now I have even MORE time to kill before lunch. So I go to a bookstore. I'm browsing the Thai language books. There is one called "Practical Thai". I open it to a random page and here is the dialogue.
"Do you sell guns here?"
"Of course, what color and make would you like?"
UNBELIEVABLE!!! :-)
