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20 Ringgit – enough for Dating?

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(Online dating is cheaper and less stressful too. Cartoon source: www.glasbergen.com)

For those who were listening to THR last Saturday, hosted by the witty DJ, Ram would know what I mean. Ram posed this scenario to the listeners and asked for their funny & creative replies:-

You have been very busy at work and have not gone out with your girlfriend for some time now. Your girlfriend calls you up suddenly in middle of the month and insists on going out on a date today. The problem is you only have RM20 in your wallet and the fuel meter in your car / motorbike shows “E” (that E for empty). What will you do?

It’s a mind boggling question, a situation that I myself have been in several times when I was starting on my work and dating my wife-to-be several years ago. Surprisingly there were several calls from the listeners with some “good” answers. Translated from Tamil into English, it sounds something like this:-

Listener 1 – Fuel up for RM10 (if using the car) or RM2 (is using motorbike) and the balance, buy plenty of junk food (chips, “asam-asam”, etc). Spend some quiet moment at some park or waterfall (Sounds real cheap but then again with RM20 in the pocket, who’s complaining?)

Listener 2 – Just say that you are sick and schedule the date to another day (preferably sometime after your pay day)

The best reply so far…

Listener 3 – Before meeting the girlfriend, give a miss-call to your buddies. When you meet your girl, first “lay” out impressive activities for the day – sightseeing to Genting, watching the latest movies, have lunch at fast food restaurant, etc. That to ensure you are serious about the date. At that time, your friend will return your call – act up as if there was an emergency and that you have no choice but to cancel the date. Reschedule to another day when you have the money (cover balik lah).

Listener 3’s idea was great but was a bit difficult to follow unless you are good actor and the return call from your friends comes in at the right moment (my friends normally don’t return miss-calls).

I would say that I was lucky to have a girlfriend (my future wife then) who understood my financial and time constraint (ok, most of the time). I would simply pick a day when I actually have the money to date. Ego plays a crucial part in managing expenses for dating – no way am I going to ask my girl to chip in. I know it is the new millennium and this things does not exist anymore right? Wrong – being a guy who want to impress the girl, what ever ideals there is, it is out of the window.

That was before marriage. Now, we just share our expenses most of the time – sometimes my wife would “belanja” me instead. It’s just that we have different priorities these days.

By the way, RM20 is not much these days. So think about the question again. How would you handle it with just RM20 in your pocket?

(Filed under Del.icio.us Tag: Money)
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