there's a saying in shanghai: "買塊豆腐撞撞死。" it's literal translation? buy yourself a block of tofu and commit suicide by banging your head against it. obviously, this is not making sense. tofu is soft; there is no way that you can kill yourself by banging your head against it. the real message behind the saying is "you are so incompetent/weak that you can be killed by a soft object such as a block of tofu".
i can immediately think of someone(s), right now, who can be a tofu buyer. let me first list the physical/mental characteristics and behaviors of a tofu buyer.
- possess impure eyes - let me elaborate a bit more on this nontrivial characteristic. "eyes are the windows to one's soul". if the eyes are not pure, how can the soul be pure? those eyes are full of demands, and radiate laser beam like gaze. sometimes, those gazes signal that you are at fault. sometimes, those gazes serve the purpose of probing/fishing information from you; and later the owner of the gazes claim the information as his own.
- defense against impure eyes - avoid eye contact. and not be afraid of awkward silent moments.
- does not believe in 2 way streets - obviously missed the modern american history class in junior high. probably never heard of JFK's famous speech, ask not what others/your employees can do for you, ask what you can do for others/your employees.
- defense against 2 way streets non believers - avoid contacts once for all. or if you're proactive at defending yourself, make sure to use the impure eyes technique. this is a classic example of fighting fire with fire. 以毒攻毒
- gives off negative vibe - this behavior usually has the most damage on you because, like happiness, negativity also spreads like a wild fire. tofu buyers (if they're team leads or managers) like to promote competitiveness among team mates, so team mates, A and B, would battle out who has longer working hours. tofu buyers constantly worry about how they look in the eyes of upper management, and always live in fear of looking bad while forgetting what is important is doing the right thing.
- defense against negativity - stay positive, and know yourself well.
- short sighted - tofu buyers only care about what can be accomplished in the near future. they do not believe in investment. they do not invest in employees nor time, have no sense of ROI.
- defense against short sightedness - know which battles to pick.
disclaimer: this entry of blog has no intent to offend any tofu lovers. and the author is definitely not trying to cause any fluctuation in tofu sales numbers at stores such as 99 Ranch, Marina, Mitsuwa and Uwajiyama in the states of California and Washington (or any tofu selling stores in the universe).
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