"That's a cute hat you have." "Thank you. It's a Vietnamese conical leaf hat." "I would love to wear it to New Orleans on my next vacation trip." "Are you serious? I can buy it for you." "Are you sure? I will give you money to buy it." "It's just a few bucks. I'll get it for you." "Thank you."
A brief conversation was taking place in an elevator with one of the supervisors at work. I was on my way out on a lunch-break.
It's not raining very hard right now, so I don't want to carry an umbrella. This hat will do. I think I'm starting a new fashion trend. My coworkers seem to like it very much. đđ
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The rain was a little heavier at lunch. I got a bit wet. As I opened the big glass door to walk into the office, a young receptionist sitting at the kiosk desk gave me a big smile. When I was about to walk past her, she called me back.
"Hi, where do you get that hat?" "I bought it at a Vietnamese store." "My mom wanted to buy it for a long time. She saw it on television once and fell in love with it so much. I went to a lot of Chinese stores to look for it, but I couldn't find any."
"Oh" I replied with a puzzled look on my face. She explained,"My mom has lupus. She lost all her hair."
"I'm sorry," I responded. "I will buy it and bring iĚt with a receipt to you next week."
"Oh, thank you," she replied with a big smile â¤ď¸
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This kind of hat has a sentimental value to me. I came from a farming background. My mom wore it to work in the field and in open markets where she sold produces and flowers. I tagged along with her a few times as a young girl. â¤ď¸