14-12-2022, 03:06 PM
In running the business too, she was asserting herself. I had gone there with the understanding that I would be the manager, running the business side of things. And she would take care of housekeeping stuff like laundry, cleaning rooms, cooking etc. She still did the housekeeping things of course. But was acting like a co-manager with me, deciding shift schedules, setting prices, etc. One time we had a little argument about this.
"Hitesh....I see the price in the system is set at 150 dollars a night for the next weekend." she said one night.
"Yes, I read there is a rodeo contest nearby. So there will be high demand."
"There will be, but 150 is too high. 125 will be better. Or we won't sell out. That's roughly how much our competition is charging."
"No, I heard some fifty thousand people come for it."
"I know. Still, we should change it to 125."
"150 is fine." I gruffly said, with a tone of finality.
I saw anger flash in her eyes as she said,
"I am the one who has grown up here. I am the one who has grown up in the motel business. But you think you know more than me in just a few months?"
"Apara!!" I raised my voice, sounding like my father.
"Whatever." and she stormed away.
In the end, she was proven right. We only sold about half hour rooms that weekend whereas other motels were packed. On the last day, I decided to drop prices down to 100 dollars to salvage some business.
I had started off with that traditional mindset of the man knowing the best. That's how it worked in my family. My mother never disagreed or questioned my father on anything. However, I realized soon that Apara was indeed more experienced and knowledgeable than me about the business. So I slowly started making peace with the fact that she would be an equal decision maker.
Another aspect of her behavior and personality that I found unusual was how friendly and chatty she was in general, but particularly with men. Be it guests who were checking in, or the guys who worked for us, or other casual acquaintances, she spoke to them for a lot longer than I would have expected. In my family and social circle, women only talked this much to men who were related to them. With strangers, especially working class people like clerks, plumbers, delivery men, repair men etc, the women barely interacted. So I found it strange how she could have 5-10 minute long conversations, often full of giggles and jokes, with these kind of people.
I noticed that America was in general a more chatty country than India. Even strangers chat so much. They call it "small talk" I think. And America doesn't have that social barrier between men and women that we do in conservative Gujarati society. So it wasn't unusual considering that she had grown up here. But still, it wasn't something I was used to, and it bothered me.
And what additionally made those conversations bother me was the fact that most of them were in Spanish. I was still not used to how dominant Spanish was in South Texas, It almost felt as if we were in Mexico. So I would be around Apara while she chatted with them in fluent and rapid Spanish. And I had no idea what they were discussing.
So by the time that night in room 106 happened, there was already a lot of discomfort that had built up. Growing up in an orthodox Gujarati family, I had certain expectations of how a woman and that too a wife should behave. Maybe some rich modernized guys from Mumbai or Delhi might have been okay with it, but it rankled to me. Of course, I didn't say anything. Just kept everything to myself. Even with all these small hiccups, things were on the whole good. I was in America, the land of opportunities. I had a green card and would soon be a citizen. And my kids would grow up here and have a better future than I ever did.
I don't want to come across as very whinny or thankless. Yes, all these aspects of Apara's behavior bothered me. But not enough to really make my life miserable. She wasn't exactly what I expected, but she was still a good wife, all things considered. She cooked for me, cleaned the home, took care of all the household work, helped me run the business. Was quite good looking too, and had a nice body. And sex with her, although not always as mind blowing as that one night, was still satisfying.
"Hitesh....I see the price in the system is set at 150 dollars a night for the next weekend." she said one night.
"Yes, I read there is a rodeo contest nearby. So there will be high demand."
"There will be, but 150 is too high. 125 will be better. Or we won't sell out. That's roughly how much our competition is charging."
"No, I heard some fifty thousand people come for it."
"I know. Still, we should change it to 125."
"150 is fine." I gruffly said, with a tone of finality.
I saw anger flash in her eyes as she said,
"I am the one who has grown up here. I am the one who has grown up in the motel business. But you think you know more than me in just a few months?"
"Apara!!" I raised my voice, sounding like my father.
"Whatever." and she stormed away.
In the end, she was proven right. We only sold about half hour rooms that weekend whereas other motels were packed. On the last day, I decided to drop prices down to 100 dollars to salvage some business.
I had started off with that traditional mindset of the man knowing the best. That's how it worked in my family. My mother never disagreed or questioned my father on anything. However, I realized soon that Apara was indeed more experienced and knowledgeable than me about the business. So I slowly started making peace with the fact that she would be an equal decision maker.
Another aspect of her behavior and personality that I found unusual was how friendly and chatty she was in general, but particularly with men. Be it guests who were checking in, or the guys who worked for us, or other casual acquaintances, she spoke to them for a lot longer than I would have expected. In my family and social circle, women only talked this much to men who were related to them. With strangers, especially working class people like clerks, plumbers, delivery men, repair men etc, the women barely interacted. So I found it strange how she could have 5-10 minute long conversations, often full of giggles and jokes, with these kind of people.
I noticed that America was in general a more chatty country than India. Even strangers chat so much. They call it "small talk" I think. And America doesn't have that social barrier between men and women that we do in conservative Gujarati society. So it wasn't unusual considering that she had grown up here. But still, it wasn't something I was used to, and it bothered me.
And what additionally made those conversations bother me was the fact that most of them were in Spanish. I was still not used to how dominant Spanish was in South Texas, It almost felt as if we were in Mexico. So I would be around Apara while she chatted with them in fluent and rapid Spanish. And I had no idea what they were discussing.
So by the time that night in room 106 happened, there was already a lot of discomfort that had built up. Growing up in an orthodox Gujarati family, I had certain expectations of how a woman and that too a wife should behave. Maybe some rich modernized guys from Mumbai or Delhi might have been okay with it, but it rankled to me. Of course, I didn't say anything. Just kept everything to myself. Even with all these small hiccups, things were on the whole good. I was in America, the land of opportunities. I had a green card and would soon be a citizen. And my kids would grow up here and have a better future than I ever did.
I don't want to come across as very whinny or thankless. Yes, all these aspects of Apara's behavior bothered me. But not enough to really make my life miserable. She wasn't exactly what I expected, but she was still a good wife, all things considered. She cooked for me, cleaned the home, took care of all the household work, helped me run the business. Was quite good looking too, and had a nice body. And sex with her, although not always as mind blowing as that one night, was still satisfying.
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