Sup3rnality

When I got out of my car this morning to walk up to my office, after parking it by the roadside, I saw in the morning's sunlight a chip in the paint of the car somewhere to the right side of the hood. Argh. This is the third one. And I hate it when I don't know how it got there.

If I know why a scratch is there, I could reconcile with the fact that I was careless. But if it's just suddenly there, then I get a mite tetchy on the origins of that offensive mar in the smooth exterior of my Sylvie (the Silver Viva). Yes, I can actually see your eyes rolling when I say this, Sayang, cos you know how dusty and dirty my car is at this point of time. I swear, I don't have the time to clean it.

Anyhow, all this fuss about car colours and paintjobs gave reminded me of arguments I often have with my father. Arguments that often leave me huffing in frustration. Why? Because he loves saying this:

"Alah, colour tu seasonal!"

Meaning: "Alah (said as negative exclamation that expresses disagreement or dismissal), that colour is seasonal".

Operative word: "Seasonal"

This is my father's most favourite word. And when he says it like above, that's pretty much the end of the argument. No buts, no ifs. That's it. And why does he say what he says? Ah, this is where I give you a little backstory.

My father is not the kind of person you'd request things like clothing, handbags, accessories from. First of all, he doesn't like buying them. Rather than buying those, he'd rather buy you a Nintendo DS. No, seriously. He will. And while some might think that that is fantabulously awesome, it's not when all you really want is a nice t-shirt. Or maybe, he will get you what you asked for, but in a really boring colour.

Okay, scenario: Say he goes to Japan, and you tell him: I want a t-shirt with nice cherry blossoms on them.
Likely end result(s): (a) He buys a Nintendo DS with cherry blossoms decorating it, or (b) he'll get what you want, but in a safe, and often drabby colour.

My father, for the most part, likes to play the safe card when buying something that he'd be owning for a long time. Like clothes, he'd rather get grey or black or white or brown. He'll never buy red or green or yellow. Unless someone gave it to him and he'd have to wear it. But even then, he'd probably only wear it once.

Same goes for cars. He'll only buy a black or silver or grey car. Which is fine if those were the only options. But cars come in so many wonderful colours now, but would he want to get a nice vibrant colour that shines beautifully in the sun. No. Simple as that.

I have argued with him way too often, and my anger has never been assuaged. It's just that I got so tired of his adamant reply. It's a seasonal colour. What I would very much like to say, but never will is: So what?

Come on, think about it. I would think that anyone would be excited about getting their first car. I know I was. Other than type, model and brand of car, almost certainly you'd have an ideal colour in mind. It's your first car after all. You'd want it to be something that reflects what you like.

I knew that when I started working, a car was in the cards. And there I was fantasizing about a beautiful blue car. Okay, so I wasn't really particular on what car it was. Just like a woman, you might think. But it's not like I had oodles of money to have the luxury to choose, so whatever that moves would have done me just fine. I just wanted a blue car. I've loved the colour blue since forever. It always made me think of skies. Also, I think that would save Ash from having to dump Chelsea-blue paint on my Sylvie likes he's been wanting to do :p

But you guessed it, my dad got me a silver Perodua Viva. Thing is, he didn't even consult me when he bought it. I didn't even know he was buying a new car. Next thing my mom knew there was a Viva in the garage. No one knew. He just got it.

Now you might say that my dad got it, I should be thankful. Yeah, I am. But, he could have at least asked what colour I liked. And besides, yes, he paid for the downpayment; but I'm paying for the monthly installments.

I'm not saying I don't love my Sylvie. I do. She serves me well and I take care of her the best I can. But when I see a nice blue Viva on the road. I get envious. Not just the blue, in fact. The red is nice, too. And the jade is also real eye-catching. Sometimes I wish I could have gotten another colour instead.

And when I ask my father why didn't he get another colour, I'd always get his typical reply: Buat apa, Ayin? Colour tu semua seasonal. Sekarang ni cantik la, lepas ni dah bosan tengok sebab semua orang pon ada colour tu. Baik beli colour macam ni. Original. Colour lain tu semua lama-lama nanti bukan trend dia dah. Lepas tu semua nanti nak tukar balik. Kereta nak simpan lama, nak ke tengok colour boring macam tu lama-lama? Ah, seasonal je tu.

Translation: What for, Ayin? All those other colours are seasonal. Now it may look nice, but soon it will be terribly common because everyone else will have the same colours. It's better to have a colour like this (silver). It's classic. Those other colours will soon be out of style. Then soon everybody would want to change back to normal colours. Cars are meant to be kept for a long time; do you really want to look at a common, seasonal colour like that for that long? They're all just seasonal.

Queue seething anger. But --- I like blue! Whether or not it is in "season", I will always like blue. Blue has always been my favourite colour. Everybody knows that. I was easily spotted in campus cos I was almost always in a blue tudung. Ask me this year, and the next year or next decade, or go back in time by another decade, I would still say I want blue. What really is the problem? I'll be the one driving it anyway.

But then, it's no use. My father is not the kind of person you'd argue with. You cannot argue with him. You will never win. And he is too intimidating and can get quite angry, so you cease argument at a certain point. And that is that.

I love my father. But sometimes his stubbornness and hard-headedness really grates me. But then again, now you see where I got it from, eh?

Love,
Linzy