myob
Sometimes I contemplate walking around with a sign on my back that reads: Mind Your Own Business.
Maya: “Who are you talking to on the phone?” MYOB.
Ali: “When are you going to jump into the 21st century and switch from Hotmail to Gmail?” MYOB.
Nosy Indian Aunt: “Why are you wearing that outfit again when you already wore it to my cousin’s brother-in-law’s wedding?” MYOB.
Valet Parking Attendant: “How come you drive a two-door car when you have a child?” MYOB.
Should your daughter still be in a booster seat at six? Why is your fridge always so empty – what do you guys eat? How can you justify employing a housekeeper – are you THAT busy? Why do you spend so much money on X, Y, and Z? Do you ever stop complaining?
No. And MYOB.
I had a plethora of questions for this lady in line at Panera but I MMOB : Minded My Own Business.
Instead of making geometry and biology mandatory I think schools should make kids take classes like “Social Skills 101: Keeping Your Obnoxious Questions to Yourself” and “Off Limits: The Art of Avoiding Offensive Topics.”
Anyone with me?
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
Never, I say, never apologize for a housekeeper. Nice pic.
My housekeeper is the best thing that’s ever happened to this family. And I don’t say that lightly!
Ha ha, its OK for some 😉
Lucky you! Send her over when you guys are off vacationing 😀
Oh yes!!! I am definitely with you Ameena!!! BTW if you find a T shirt with MYOB, then please pass one to me as well.
I’m thinking I’ll start a new clothing line called MYOB and become a millionaire…
Now THAT is a brilliant idea. Definitely make hot pants and put MYOB on the ass. They’ll sell like hotcakes here in the LA area!
You must be some long lost soul sistah! LOL on the pic at Panera…and glad you MYOB!! We must practice what we preach, no matter how tempting the ‘picture’ may be!
It was hard Deeba. But I’m proud to say I practiced what I preach!
Love it! Yep, totally love it! I am so with you on this.
BTW, we have an accountancy software program here in Aus called MYOB….so Nishi could probably get a tshirt from them I am sure. Not quite the same thing though….
Cute name for an accounting program!
No matter how I strive to MMOB, I might fail at times. You must have bit your tongue when you saw that lady in Panera hehe.. I better not comment anything for I want to practice MMOB. LOL! I love this post!
I think we all fail at one point or another but the difference is that our comments are unlikely to be THAT offensive in the first place.
Oh man… shirts like that should be illegal.But I’ll just MMOB on that one…
🙂 OH MY ….
Oh wow. Probably a good thing you MYOB’d in that situation… 🙂
Whoa…wait…what the hell. That? Was in Panera? And not a WalMart?
Yes. Shocking, right?
That picture had me laughing out loud over my raisin bran!!! I am so with you on the class. My son has this friend who is super nosy and asks the most obnoxious and really quite rude questions. Definately a prime MYOB class candidate.
I give a bit more leeway to nosy kids but adults should know better!
At least you have a husband, kids, and money, though I’m sure their absence was the central question at every family get-together before you did! At 23, I am a prime target for nosy, offensive relatives and strangers alike. “When are you two finally going to get married?” “When is he going to graduate and start making ‘real’ money?” “Why don’t you want kids? You don’t /like/ kids? Oh, that’ll change. [Smiles knowingly and condescendingly]”
Of course, at 23, and having flunked the class on classiness, my equivalent response to M.Y.O.B. only has two letters: F.O. (no elaboration necessary, I’m sure).
Tamara it never ends, especially the knowing and condescending smiles. I have a husband and child but everyone wants to know why I don’t have 2 children!
Sometimes two letters are better than 4. 🙂
hysterical ladies….i am lol! tamara i’m so sorry….so true though!
I just…
I can’t even…
OHhhhhh that’s all one shirt! Is it necessary at that point to even wear a bra? I mean, conservative was already right out the window that morning.
Like I said, I have a plethora of questions too. I fear this outfit shall remain a mystery.
your humor has me beside myself with laughter. I’m serious, I love this post from the lady at panera to the myob comments, esp the cousins brother in laws wedding. haha. so good
Thank you Daisy. 🙂
that was my fav too….and the nosy indian aunty, so classic!!! ameena, hopefully she doesn’t read your blog;) i’m also in need of the t shirt…please get me one as well! in fact, i think you need to do a coffee table
book on myob!
Hahaha..that outfit is, um, well unique. But I will MMOB before I say anything further.
And yes, Social Skills, “How to behave in public”, and “Be seen not heard” should all be classes taught
“Unique” is certainly a PC way of addressing this ensemble!
YES YES YES!!! Social skills seem to be seriously lacking these days. It makes me want to rip my hair out. Example: Last night a group of kids were seated at a table in a restaurant next to us. There were 6 kids under 13 (no adults) and they sprayed each other with water, yelled and ordered one order of fries for the six of them. Minding my own business was tough. WHERE WERE THEIR PARENTS? ugh. Then the kids didn’t tip despite leaving a huge mess? I wanted to slap some social skills into them.
Kids like those give my relatively well-behaved child a bad name. That sucks.
Came out of hiding to say that I’d rather wear that outfit than birth any of those children. That is all.
Preach it. I think I’m just going to start giving really outlandish answers when people ask me questions like that because I’m so beyond trying to validate/justify anything I do in my day-to-day life.
I love it!!! MYOB is the end all be all answer that applies to anything and everything. I have a few questions for that horribly dressed lady myself. Like how can you walk out of the house looking like that?? Whoa.
She must live alone. Otherwise wouldn’t someone say something to her?
Wow, I am confused as to why someone would wear that. That outfit has zero aesthetic value, at least as far as I am concerned. The wearer obviously disagrees.
I am completely with you with keeping obnoxious questions to yourself. Hate it when people ask me stuff like that. Do people really ask why you need a housekeeper? So annoying!
They really do ask me that. I have no idea why it’s such a point of contention for so many?
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ You should make a “People of Panera” ala Los Angeles! Ameena, you’d be RICH! 🙂
I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anyone dressed remotely as scary in a Panera or anywhere else in LA for that matter!
Oh wow, that is…interesting.
LOVE this post! Definitely made me laugh. And I’m just going to put this out there…Indian people are the worst when it comes to MYOB…just sayin’…
I agree with you 100000%! Indian people can be brutal.
You know if she had caught you, she’d have beaten the crap out of you. You are way braver than I am.
Aren’t boosters required until 8? Then the back seat until 11? I know because Dudette is LIVING for the day that she turns 8 so she can do away with the thing.
Boosters are not required after age 6 here and Maya is 6 1/2 already. She’s also sat in the front seat on a couple of occasions…is that not allowed in NC?
No, she’s not allowed to sit in the front seat until she’s 11. I guess studies show that much younger than that, if the air bag goes off while they’re up there, the strength of it is so strong that it could kill them.
It’s so funny you posted this because I was at an Eid party at my inlaws’ over the weekend and this annoying desi Aunty (I knew I didn’t like her from 1st sight) started interviewing me in front of everyone. Full-on interrogation! Why don’t you have kids? Do you cook? What is your education? Where are your parents? and on and on. I finally got up and went in the other room. I was ready to lose it!! hahaha
If it’s any consolation I get interviewed regularly as well. So. Frustrating!
I am with you! Can we enroll others in those classes without their consent?
We live (err… I live part-time) in a country of free speech and free dress. Though not always pretty, we can do whatever the hell we want! Preach it. MYOB!
I wish we didn’t need consent…the world would be a better place.
One of my favourites is “why are you still in university after 9 years?”
I think I am going to start responding with, “with all due respect, MYOB!!!!!!!”
I actually admire anyone who can study for 9 years! I could barely tolerate 4 so kudos to you.
“Gosh, I spend so much focus and energy devoted to being the best person I can be, I am wondering how you manage to do it all and have leftovers for the rest of us?”
AMEN!!! I am with you my friend!!!!! It would be a much better place if people did mind their own buisness!!! 🙂
ha ha, this reminds me of a piece I wrote not so long ago over at my blog. If your not to careful you might just start wearing a note say ‘Mind your own bleeding business’ – I’d be happy to see a picture of your with that note.
I’m WITH YA!
I actually did WISH more people worried more about themselves and less about what the heck everyone else was doing.
makes me nuts!
❤ the post! Really, we should start a world wide phenomenon – MYOB Walk?
Now that’s a cause I will walk for! 🙂
Oh mannnn…it would be hard to MYOB around a shirt like that. In a bad way, of course.
If everybody would just mind their own business, I think this world would be a much happier place. Speaking of which, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people who don’t have kids try to teach me on how to discipline my kid(s).
I am sad to say that I’m pretty sure I advised parents when I had no child myself. I will forever feel bad about that. Forever!
—Ameena,
I agree. People need to SHUT UP & fix their own problems!
That shirt? I don’t get it. Is that in style over there? HA
I don’t think I’m very fashion forward but I am 99% sure this is NOT a current trend here in LA.
OMG. I have no words that could express my disbelief in what that woman is wearing.
I have some people in my life that I am sure want to tell me to MYOB. I have a big mouth. But I only don’t mind it to people I am related to & I care about. That’s my excuse & I am sticking to it.
I have a big mouth too…I’m sure people want to tell ME to MMOB as well.
hahahaha I love this. And honestly what in god’s name was that woman wearing?? I love that you MYOB while snapping a quick photo 🙂
Actually, Ali snapped the photo. I really WAS MMOB.
Sigh – Why did she..? How could she..? Never mind.
I’m with you Ameena, but umm.. why haven’t you switched to Gmail? :DDDDDD
I tried Gmail. I really did. But it confused the living daylights out of me!
Yes MYOB is an art that you should have to take classes on that would require you getting at least a B+ before you are allowed in public 😉
Hope your having a great week…
A B+ AND an exit exam. 🙂
Quite honestly, it is hard to MMOB after you look at that outfit.
Hahahaha that outfit is CRAZY!
Love this.
Ameena thank you for commenting on my site. I actually just took down two very honest, hurtful posts (about stuff that’s been happening with my blog and anonmymous people and horrible comments about my writing and book reviews, binging etc :(…) I just don’t know anymore. I might just shut it down and stop. Or get a new name (like I was planning but just now feel so disheartened).
Perhaps I’ll email you personally. I worry that a lot of the things I write are too embarrassing on my site about me for real and people don’t know those things.
Yes.. yes.. yes!! Actually, I don’t mind if kids are being nosy, because they’re kids. They are supposed to ask questions & they are cute.
My problem is when grown-ups/adults are nosy and asking rude questions. Especially those elderly family members. I never know how to answer their nosy questions.
Not only in India, In Indonesia also the same, when/if you are single, they will ask you when you’re getting married. Then when you’re married they will ask when you’re going to start a family. Once you have your first kid, they will ask you when you’re going to have the 2nd kid. The questions never stop … sigh..
Now about that top… I have no comment but I admire her guts to wear it in public. Who sell that kind of outfit anyway? Oh well.. never mind..
The elderly family members who feel like they can say or do whatever because they are elderly just drive me bananas. Especially since I can’t say anything to them!
I have to admire the woman’s guts as well…kudos to her for not conforming I suppose?
LMAO. Love this post. And seriously, that nosy Indian aunt! What kind of question is that? I love living by myself because there are fewer “MYOB” moments. I get that when I return home to my family though!
The “Nosy Indian Aunt” comments get SO much worse if you can believe it. This one was child’s play.
Life without a housekeeper would be tragic. At least right now.
MYOB may be my new favorite acronym. I hate LMAO and LOL, but MYOB? That I can do. That, and WTF…
Life without a housekeeper would be tragic for sure!
omg i am laughing so loud at that picture right now. wtf is she thinking? indians, especially aunties and uncles cannot myob. they just can’t! piya
p.s. gmail is the best thing ever…
Am I the only one who just doesn’t get Gmail? I must be slow.
The picture is scary and sadly I have seen outfits like that. Do people have no common sense or self respect?? They must not to wear those types of outfits. I thoroughly agree with you on the MYOB. People need to keep their noses out of your business!
I think there is a severe lack of common sense here in Los Angeles.
Amen! As for that lady in the picture…. I don’t even know where to begin! The mind reels! Why? just, Why?? That’s my only question for her! I hate obnoxious, JUDGMENTAL questions– which are rhetorical in context, since they’ve already formed an opinion and it’s their passive-aggressive way of letting you know they don’t approve– so condescending. Ignore them. Instead answer with, “why do you always ask such obnoxious, nosy questions?”… then see what they have to say!
xo
Barbara
The judgmental questions are the ones that bother me most because for the most part I’ve become quite adept at ignoring the stupid ones (e.g. Ali’s and Maya’s incessant questions)!
Ameena you are hilarious!!!! On a separate note. I think that lady’s shirt is on backwards or fighting her 🙂
Fighting her. I love it!
I think I would have gone to the WTF mode if I had seen that outfit. How do you even put that on?!
I wish I had answers but I have none. This shirt will remain an unsolved mystery.
Ha! I love you for taking that picture. I tried to take a picture of a man in pajama bottoms and no shirt at the grocery store but I wasn’t brave enough.
I think you should make two copies of that sign. I would like to wear one too. I would point to it every time anyone speaks to me. For any reason.
Ali took the picture! I must give him credit for being so brave.
HAHA Great post, Ameena! I also have some questions for the lady at Panera but I will mind my own business too and let her rock it. 😉 Oh how I would love to use this sign on my future mother-in-law…
Sorry about your in-law issues…I hope she lives a good distance away at least?
That picture is awesome. Holy OMG to that. But yes, good to MYOB on that one.
ah…yes one should mind their own business…but still i cant help asking this lady a few questions 😛
I have a little problem. I want others to MYOB (or MTOB their business) but I would find it impossible not to discuss the electric blue panera woman.
As you can see I am in the same predicament.
Having a housekeeper requires no explanation. I think it’s a great move! My in-laws hired one a few years ago and they say they wish they had years ago.
It’s funny how obnoxious people can be without really thinking, isn’t it? I think a lot of it stems from believing they know better how to do something than your do, and it’s their way of offering advice. To them: MYOB, yo! I live my life the way I want, no excuses necessary!
Also, that woman at Panera … :O I would have to ask many questions, but not to her, that’s for sure. You see the most interesting things, Ameena!
I totally agree that most people just think they can offer up advice because they are so much better at something. I am going to try to remember that the next time I want to tell someone to MYOB!
Virtually everyone I come across: “You graduated from college last week? Why don’t you have a job yet?”
Much to my parents dismay, I usually do tell people to MYOB… or that I’m biding my time until I find a husband.. but for some reason few people actually see the sarcasm in that.
I’m dying over the picture!
Few people get my sarcasm either Caroline. I think it’s a lost art?
I agree! People always insist on asking me if my curly hair is naturally curly or permed. I always find this question odd. Would you ask that of someone’s unusual breasts: Are those boobs real or fake? I think not.
Since my hair is such a mess I am obsessed with other people’s hair and I fear that I have asked a number of people if their hair really is straight or not. I have now noted that I need to stop asking this and MMOB!
i have posted a comment on this post and it is not here 😦 i dont know where it disappeared..but i should mind my own buisness :p never ask any thing 🙂
I checked my spam folder and it isn’t there….Wordpress is acting strangely!
Ameena, I can’t stop laughing…omg..is that woman wearing a thong that goes up to her bra??!!! I guess I should also MMOB..lol
I wish I had answers Sara but all I have are a whole lot of questions.
Hey with the way some kids act about certian things these days your right they all need social skills 101 for many reasons. I could make classes 102 and 103 also. That woman in that picture seriously.. OMG… lol
It could be a series of classes Erika and they could span 4 years of high school!
I would tell the aunt that old age is making her delusional and its better if she doesn’t speak so ppl won’t know. but that’s just me. hmmm. no wonder my mom’s sisters don’t like me. and, i’d like say, that lady is wearing one smashing out fit. but i’d be lying.
great post, i look forward to visiting again. thanks for stopping by!
I can’t even ask someone to move out of my way, nevermind tell her she’s getting old and delusional!
lol. i guess your aunts still like you. 😀 I have no control over my mouth.
Questions like that drive me crazy! I wish I had a sign to hold up when people step too close! Thanks for sharing, my friend. And thanks for that picture. It sure made me laugh!
Cool pic, and dang girl you make me laugh. 🙂
So glad I could make you laugh Anna!
Clearly the acronym deserves to be on a bumper sticker! I’d paste it to my forehead!
The answer to all those why’s is “why not?”
That will shut people up.
My most hated why’s: “why don’t you work” my answer: “my husband makes enough money for both of us”– people love that reply LOL
“Why don’t you have kids”– “my husband and I are happy the way we are (and I kind of hate them—oops, did i say that??? LOL”
Yes, I am horrid. Sometimes I like to let people know it. I’ve gotten to a time in my life where I just am not in the mood to take sh– from anyone anymore. I feel like I deserve a certain amount of respect. If you ask me a stupid question, you get a stupid answer (or an answer you don’t want to hear).
If someone asks you why you have a maid, I’d say, “because I can afford it.” Why do you have a two door car, “because I like it,” why did you wear that dress again, “because I couldn’t see the point of buying another dress that I’ll only wear once…”
OOps, this comment got a little long in the tooth. Why???? LOL
*kisses* HH
p.s. That pic was awesome, I hope your phone was on silent when you took that LOL!!!!!!!! Too funny 😀
What did the person say when you told them you kind of hate kids? I would have loved to see their reaction. That kind of honesty is admirable! As I get older I feel the exact same way. I just don’t care anymore. I’m scared how I’ll be by the time I’m 50. I’ll probably be impossible to live with!
Okay, when I first read the post title I thought “Make Your Own Beer.” Random!
Two days ago I was waiting for the bus in the rain and I had my busted umbrella in my hand, unopened. A guy next to me asked, ‘why aren’t you using your umbrella’. Well kind sir, it exploded on me this morning when I tried to open it. MYOB! Haha!
You’d think the guy would be too busy making sure he wasn’t getting wet to worry about your lack of an umbrella. People mystify me!
Holy smacks. She did not walk out in public looking like that. I give you kudos for MYOB on that one. lol
YES!!!
I recently started using this question in response to “those types” of questions.
“Did you REALLY just ask me that?”
So far, though, I have only used it on family members. LOL. I’m too nice.
WOW to that woman’s outfit. And I agree about myob. Except I don’t feel it fully applies to my husband because if I didn’t shower Shaune with a hundred questions each week, I would never ever get my phone messages, find out that a note was sent home from daycare about the kids needing their bathing suits the next day, find out till the day of that my favourite daycare person is leaving so I have to scramble to a store buy a card and gift in a rush and get back to the daycare to get it to her before she leaves early on her last day. I find that with him, the only thing that works is investigative type questioning on a random basis.
Ali leaves 99% of Maya’s school/daycare/doctor related stuff to me. It’s just easier that way! And we communicate a lot via email so if he finds out something school-related he’ll shoot me an email about it so he doesn’t forget. This works…MOST of the time. 🙂
Hilarious Pic Amena! I was thinking what was that woman thinking when she got dressed!!!
I think it could double as public service to comment on that outfit. I hope you shielded Maya’s eyes. lol
is that a thong shirt? im so confused…
Oh my gosh! I always think about those kinds of classes. Like, I was in the top 10 of my class, but I didn’t know how to write a check. Like I had to call my parents at college and have them explain to me what the eff a Memo was and what they wanted me to write on the first line. Embarassing.
I actually took an accounting class in high school and they taught us how to write a check. I bet our kids will never need to know that though!
oh my goodness i just died laughing!!! on the bright side, imagine how many MYOB questions she must get on a daily basis… and clearly she doesn’t care 😉
Did your iphone make a loud clicking sound when you took that picture?
Oh sorry. I am MMOB.
Ali took the photo with his phone and he was smart enough to put it on silent. 🙂
The guy on the far left is sporting an Olympic grade slouch to go with that ensemble. I did get a kick out of the fact that the gal in the blue’s body language indicates to me that she seems quite content with her fashion choices. I should be so self-confident or alternately so “consequences be damned!”
Agreed Leslie! As scary as the ensemble is she is quite content and I admire her for not caring about others’ opinions. Amazing.
Wow kudos to you who snapped this pic super quick without her noticing or else she might not be happy 😀 Seriously, that’s very funny and such a weird wardrobe..hopefully it won’t make it into a trend. And I totally agree with your MYOB and MMOB..you should make a T-shirt with those 😀
We get a lot of questions about how we afford everything. It’s called a student credit line, and it is huge! Dental school is not cheap – pays for itself in the end, though. And once we hit a certain point of indebtedness, we just said to hell with it – we’ll just pay it back once I’m working. We have someone come and clean once a week. Sanity is worth the interest on the line of credit.
Also, that’s quite the shirt.
On the topic of booster seats, where I live, they’re recommended until the kid weighs 80 lbs (my 7 year old boy and 5 year old girl each weigh 50 lbs right now), and front seat is not recommended until age 12. Not sure if that’s law, though.
Oh, my. Ameena, you get extra points for not repaying questions with questions!
I feel your pain! This are some ridiculous questions which people ask and I sweat they piss me off so much!!! And … let’s not even get started on this woman’s outfit. would you like to know what I saw a woman wearing while entering a bank today? A shirt over a swim suit … and we are in Texas … there are no beaches around .. and she was with her kids. I really wanted to ask – what was she thinking? – but did I? No! I MYOB! 😀
♡ from © tanvii.com
A swim suit to a bank? That would have been a hard one not to comment on…
You know Amerna I’m happy & sad that I started reading your blog so late. Sad because I couldn’t keep up with your posts as they were being updated. But mostly happy, because now, I get to read one new post each morning & it friggin makes my day!
Ugh! Of course I meant Ameena and not Amerna. Damned auto-correct!
You are the sweetest Gayatri. Thank you so much for making MY day with your kind words. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!
you have made me laugh incredibly hard at this post!!!!!! You put into words my very thoughts….I now want to wear a sign “MYOB” I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!
I think I should get a whole bunch of shirts printed…I have a feeling I’ll be a millionaire! 🙂
It is pertinent to MYOB when strangers walk around like that lady… except someone in her life should have said SOMETHING. Like when my oldest son emerges from the bathroom acting like he’s ready to go somewhere and the back of his head is alternately mashed flat and sticking straight up; I tell him, “Go fix that mess. You look like no one loves you.”
Super funny post 🙂
“You look like no one loves you.” I LOVE that! I’m totally going to use that one on Maya when she tries to go to school without brushing her hair. 🙂
hilarious. love this post for multiple reasons!
completely agree with you. i need to learn how to respond to some nosy people. so far i’ve only learned to say “you’ll get used to it.” 😛
and the photo. oh god. unbelievable how some people take it too far.
“You’ll get used to it” is a good one. And I’m still learning how to respond to nosy people!