Today was quite the day.
I laughed. I cried. Super, super awesome day.
Around 8:45 a.m. I decided to open the door so that Suresh would be able to get in. I guess my luck had finally run out. I couldn't unlock the door. I tried for 30 minutes to no avail. Finally, I realized that I would have to call for help. I contacted one of our admin guys and embarrassingly told him that I was locked in and needed help. He sent Ranjeet, the caretaker, to let me out. In the meantime, Suresh arrived to drive me to work. He called the apartment and I explained that I couldn't come downstairs because I was stuck. Ten minutes later, he rang the doorbell and then tried to open the door, despite my protestations, again, that I was lockd in. Then Ranjeet got there and I heard them talking in hindi and the door opened and Suresh was hysterically laughing. Well, I was so embarrassed that this basically just incensed me. I yelled at him to "shut up and stop laughing" and then we went downstairs to the car.
The ride to work was the same as always, except I was so embarrassed and angry that I could spit nails. At work I got out of the ar without a word and slammed the door behind me. Then I got upstairs and proceeded to tell my coworkers about the morning issue, along with the tomato soup story from the night before.
I was not expecting the reaction I received about the tomato soup conversation with Suresh.
They were horrified. Absolutely horrified that this occurred. They basically told me that Suresh was being overly friendly and was wrong to make me feel uncomfortable and they were worried for my safety and they couldn't believe that I was talking to him and blah blah blah. It was like a whirlwind. Next thing I knew, I was e-mailing the head of admin (Pravin) to tell him about the whole conversation. [It did not go unnoticed to me that this entire professional e-mail was about tomato soup. If it hadn't been so freaked out by people's reactions, I would have been laughing much more.] Anyway, Pravin immediately came over to speak with Sim and I about the situation and then before I knew what was happening, Suresh was essentially fired as a driver for CEB India. Well, of course I felt bad (which I was yelled at for) and they assured me that he would still have a position with the cab company they contracted with, he would just be sent on different assignments and someone new would be assigned to CEB duty.
They also assured me that Suresh would not know the entire thing came from me. however, in the e-mail sent at the end of the day to me, it said that Suresh was told not to contact any of us again. I was also warned not to get in his car if he tried to pick me up.
Awesome. I'm going to get kidnapped by a deranged cab driver in India.
Most of the day was spent with people making sure I was ok, yelling at me for talking to the driver and/or letting him into the apartment, etc. Everyone was looking out for me, so it was more concern than yelling, but I kept having to explain to them that I didn't understand the culture and didn't realize that I was doing anything wrong. I mean, they don't exactly warn you that you shouldn't talk to your cab driver. Apparently I was being overly friendly by talking to him and could have been sending out signals (despite the fact that he is married with kids).
So, the ride home was quite uneventful. My new driver basically ran away from me to the car, so I was getting a nice little jog after work trying to keep up. Then I made it a point not to talk to him at all and even read my book so I wouldn't look like I was interest in talking. Once he pulled into Sun City, it was clear he didn't know where Orchid Garden (my apartments) were located.I didn't know if I was allowed to tell him. I mean, I had been coming home for almost two weeks now. I knew how to get there. So I just sat there with my mouth shut, as he asked random strangers how to get to Orchid Garden. Thankfully he found it.
I got upstairs and Ranjeet was still there waiting for me. After the incident this morning, they changed the locks! I was over the moon with excitement. I have a normal key. Goodbye skeleton key, you piece of crap. Hello, normal key that you only have to use on the outside.
Synopsis of the day: Skeleton keys suck. Never say yes to tomato soup, it could mean something else. Don't talk to your driver. Normal keys rock.
Without the driver and key issues, who knows what I'll have to talk about the next two weeks. But then again, it's India. Donkeys cross the street at crosswalks and I've seen goats standing on mopeds, trying to eat the handlebars. I'm sure I'll find something…
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