When BFDC was in Saigon last weekend, we visited a crowded market in a touristy area. I didn't particularly want to visit the market at that time. However, Desaix entered the market saying that he would spend only 10 minutes in the market before he returns to the hotel. So I decided to follow him.
As soon as I entered the market, I saw T-Shirt shops on both sides of the narrow aisles. The majority of the T-Shirts they sold had Vietnam or Ho Chi Minh or Saigon written on it or Vietnam's map on it or had a sickel and hammer printed on it or something of that sort. Most of the vendors were women in their twenties. I started looking at some T-shirts in one of the first shops along the aisle. With the expectation that I would buy some T-Shirts from her shop, the vendor eagerly pulled out more T-Shirts from the a pile with designs that I had asked for.
Just when I was browsing through the heap of T-Shirts, members of BFDC, Barrett and Dan entered the market through the same aisle that I had entered through. So the other vendors start showing them T-Shirts to them, hoping that such a merketing strategy would earn them some customers.
In the midst of all this, a female vendor decided to get aggressive with Barrett, a white, tall, strong and handsome man in our group. The woman pulled Barrett into the shop I was in and started showing her some more T-Shirts. Barrett looked interested for a while but then after seeing a few T-Shirts, he decided that he didn't want to buy from them. He tried to walk out of the shop but to no avail because the woman stood on his way. Barrett tried to get out of the shop by walking through another shop beside the shop he was in. The female vendor quickly grabbed Barrett from behind with her arms tied around his body. Barrett was able to break out of her confinement but then, the woman vendor stepped on the back-end of the Barrett's flip-flops preventing him from moving even a step forward. After a strenuous "struggle for freedom", Barrett was able to escape from the clutches of the female vendors in that area. All this moment, I split my attention between the T-Shirts that I was checking out and the commotion. When Barrett left the shop, I just hoped that he would not be "attacked" by any other similar vendors.
I asked the female vendors why she treated my friend in that manner. She replied, "He is so handsome. I want to love him." I laughed.
After going through about half a dozen T-Shirts, I decided that I didn't want to buy any T-Shirts from this market. I didn't want to take them with me from Saigon to Hanoi after all. Buying those T-Shirts in Hanoi would make my life easier. I said to the woman who was showing me T-Shirts, "I will go around the market and come back." Upon hearing that, she looked really angry and started blaming me for using her time but not buying anything at the end. Basically, she was trying to guilt-trip me into buying some T-Shirts. I insisted that I will cme back to that shop after going around, even though I was planning not to go anywhere near that shop again. As I started walking away, the vendor who was catering to my needs said, "I don't think you were here to buy T-Shirts. You are just looking for a B-52." Confused, I asked what a B-52 is. She pulled out a cardboard paper from under the table, on which the T-Shirts were piled up, and showed me a word. After showing the word to me, she started giggling with another female vendor who was sitting next to her (the vendor who had "attacked Barrett). The word was "Wanker".
PS: BFDC stands for Bar Funky Dong Club, the name that the members of our group decided to give to our group.
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