by Michelle Yim

Created on: September 19, 2009

Today, I went out on a search for a birthday present for my brother. His ninth birthday was two days away, and I had spent the last two hours digging around my room and desks for any spare change, hoping to find enough money to buy him a good present, as he had bought me a wonderful book for my birthday last year, Heidi. I had collected five dollars worth of ten cent and twenty cent coins, after many encounters with moth balls and dead flies.

Walking to the village, which was a road of shops two streets away from my house, I thought hard about what to buy him. I knew he liked cartoons, but doubted I would be able to find any merchandise that he would like.

Approaching a Chinese-owned milk bar, I faintly remembered that this milk bar was like a tiny general store; it sold everything, from socks and arm warmers to icy-poles and cans of V.

Inspecting the stock, I noticed most of the goods were of poor quality, and I would have wagered my five dollars that everything in the store was made in China, if there was anyone to wager with. The store owner, an elderly Chinese woman stared at me curiously, as I had wandered the whole store, and inspected almost everything by holding it up to the light and shaking it.

Approaching the woman, intending to ask her opinion on what I should buy, I noticed a pack of character cards from one of my brother's favourite cartoons, Ben 10 Alien Force. Before I could pick up the last pack, the owner took it away, and said: "Sorry, not for sale."

I had spent two hours looking for money, twenty minutes looking around your cheap store, and when I find the perfect present, you tell me it's not for sale. So, naturally, I wasn't going to let her go that easily.

After some questioning, I finally realized the reason why she didn't want to sell it to me.

It was because I was Asian. And a Asian teenager, at that. She thought I was a troublemaker. By this time, I was feeling quite happy with myself. I had always thought I gave off the typical 'nerd' or 'geek' impression, but she had called me a troublemaker. Usually, Asian adults loved me, because I was Asian, and wore thick glasses. However, for my brother's sake, I kept an angry demeanor.

After having a heated debate for a few minutes, I dropped the cards, and walked out. Surprisingly, it made me feel good about myself, because I could control my anger, and walk away. Not that I was actually very angry, in the first place. At the moment, I don't have a present for my brother, and I only have one more day. I think it'll be safer to shop at places like Coles or Woolworths from now on. It also so happens that I have a Coles within walking distance...

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