Can't stand Pettifleur


Im half South Asian and can tell she's much more Sri Lankan than she wants to admit. Lydia asked if she's Indian and she denied it as if Sri Lanka has nothing to do with India. Sri Lanka is part of the Indian subcontinent. She then said she's Dutch and Portuguese. There's a population in Goa, India that considers themselves Portuguese because some Portuguese ships docked there for 2 weeks (I'm exaggerating the 2 weeks, but they like to believe they're not like the rest of the population while they look even darker than the rest of the Indian population). Danesh D'Souza is Goan, so there's an example of someone who likes to identify with the colonists much like Stockholm Syndrome. I'm not saying this of all Goans, but I bring them up as an example of Indian people who exaggerate some European connection to deny who they really are. Indians who do this denial do so because they are trying to pretend they don't belong to the lower caste ("untouchables") so they say they are not quite Indian, therefore try to deny their actual caste. (I don't agree with the caste system at all, btw. I'm just pointing out that the denial of heritage exists).

I think Pettifleur is ashamed of being almost all Sri Lankan (which she insists on calling Ceylon, the name it hasn't been called in probably close to a century). The fact that she mentioned being of Portuguese extraction alerted me. I would be interested to see her parents. I have a sense Pettifleur is trying to deny who she is and pretending to be something she isn't. What Sri Lankan names tgeir kid Pettifleur, for crying out loud! It sounds like a drag name!


Second, she is so arrogant and nasty. The way she picked on Gamble's earrings the first time she met her reminded me of many South Asian women I've known -not subtle or nuanced with the cattiness. (I know this is starting to sound a little anti South Asian. I'm proud of my heritage and most SA's I know are not at all like this. It's just that this is a particular cultural expression of bitchiness I've observed). Pettifleur obviously hit a nerve with me because my background has afforded the experience of spotting a special kind of phony in that community.

She's childish and all ego. I read that she's not this big whig experienced property mogul and she acts like as little kid pretending to be a "bidness woman". I think she is a kept woman, though I dont know who would pay for that frankly. Lol.

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I get what you mean. I remember many years ago when I was working as a secretary in a large accounting firm. There was another secretary on the same floor who was from the Philippines. It was one of those situations where she and her husband had been wealth professionals in their own country, but were forced to work menial (to them) jobs in the U.S., just like regular folks. But she never stopped letting all of us know that she was way too good to be there, and much, much better than the rest of us. One day, I was working away, and she came down the hall, stood in front of my desk with her arms crossed, and said to me, "Go upstairs and get me some copy paper!" Of course I told her to haul her ashes upstairs and get her own copy paper, and she said, "You're fat; you need the exercise. Now GO!" Bitch might still be standing there waiting for her copy paper for all I know.

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She was particularly rude with Gamble in the bar. To keep hitting her with 'explain what you meant by' assault about things Gamble supposedly said about her...and the to deny being nouveau riche while standing there dressed like a hooker. And then to question Gamble about her finances. I would've told her ONE TIME and once only that it's none of her business. She's a wannabe and it reeks of desperation. Can't stand her.

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to deny being nouveau riche while standing there dressed like a hooker. And then to question Gamble about her finances. I would've told her ONE TIME and once only that it's none of her business. She's a wannabe and it reeks of desperation. Can't stand her.
Yup, but in her wannabe desperation, I kinda feel sorry for Pettifleur, even tho she is incredibly oblivious & annoying. Pettifleur is such easy pickins & Gina relishes decimating her, which feels like Gina is taking advantage of a child.
Remember the Bentley test drive? "Where will I put my Chanel??" So desperate.

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bon22-

The thing is all bullies are children inside, right? People like Pettifleur continue to mistreat people believing they are impressing others with their "strength" of character and many times people feel sorry for them and allow them to get away with it. I recommend not feeling sorry for someone so uncooth and especially when they're catty, which Pettifleur certainly is. Just because someone is small doesn't mean they shouldn't be put in their place. Weak people are not necassarily harmless. Depending on their intentions, those who feel weak can sometimes be quite destructive.

Pettifleur may be a weak, small person but she displays no vulnerability that elicits any protective feelings in me. I've known people like her and the fact that she's small can be more damaging to bigger people than you think. A certain weakness isn't always a sign of a soft heart.
Gina is doing the dirty work that needs tk get done. Someone's gotta do it and Gina does it well. I like Gina for that very reason .

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rangereight,
You bring up some excellent points & I agree w/ you. I don't think Pettifleur is vulnerable, nor should she be protected. I think she's kind of an idiot & she should be straightened out when she says stupid stuff, which is quite often.
My point was that Gina is an intelligent woman & that Gina should not lower herself to Pettifleur's level when straightening out Pettifleur. Pettifleur is not too bright, whereas Gina is an educated, professional woman: she's a barrister.
So, I think Gina could accomplish her goal of straightening out Pettifleur w/o lowering herself to Pettifleur's childish, imbecilic level.

Example: Regarding Pettifleur's book: Gina said that Pettifleur should not begin a paragraph (or a sentence) with the word "Because" and Gina is correct. Pettifleur takes this as criticism because Pettifleur is uneducated. So, Pettifleur is kinda pathetic: she's writing a book, but she doesn't know a very basic rule of grammer & sentence construction. That's what I meant when I said Pettifleur is easy pickins for Gina. So, I feel sorry for Pettifleur, who seems to go thru life as a clueless, obnoxious, oblivious person who survived & seemingly prospered due to her 'street smarts'.

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bon22-

Thanks, bon22! Oh, I see what you're saying. You're right in that even TALKING to Pettifleur is a step down for most people. LOL. Pettifleur is a negative person with a huge chip on her shoulder so even talking to her would feel mucky to me. Gina is a sly one, though and she does love to ruffle feathers. Despite that, for some reason I love Gina! She mostly goes after the right people (except Jackie and Janet who seem to be well-intentioned people). Yes, it is best to pity people like Pettifleur the way you say she is in the end clueless. If you didn't pity them, you would only get sucked into their unhealthy drama.

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rangereight,

you would only get sucked into their unhealthy drama
If I meet someone like this, I disappear. No drama queens for me.

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LOL!!!!! Love your last lone.

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Yep, me either.

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Check it out: Gina named one of her shoes after Pettifleur!
http://ginaliano.com/shop/shoes?product_id=79
Classy move, Gina, Cheers!

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I actually came here to see who else picked up on the Ceylon thing.

I'm not Sri Lankan but am a bit sensitive to colonialism, and for the life of me, I couldn't imagine why she would basically choose to insult her entire country of birth by referring to it by its colonial name.

Bitch, wtf?

And that's just for starters. I don't think I can even with her. Buuutttt..... I did sympathise a bit when her accent was being made fun of. If Gina wants to take her down a peg two, cool, but she should have picked another way. That came off quite nastily.

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Another thing I couldn't handle about her, when she was first introduced, was the fact that she kept mentioning that she lived in the "Paris end" of Collins Street. Collins Street, in the city of Melbourne, is one of the main streets which stretches through from one end of the business district to the other. One end is the high end part of town, where all the ritzy people live and due to its European looking architecture, is sometimes referred to as the "Paris end". It's considered a little lame calling it that though. Only pretentious twits call it that and most locals think it sounds stupid. Of course Pettifleur would latch onto that pretentious nonsense and run with it.

Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want.

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I just screamed a little....in my head. *headdesk*

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[deleted]

I agree, and the truth is I have met Sri Lankans with more ambiguous facial features (sharp nose, angular face etc) and lighter skin than her - some WAY lighter than her. As an Indian woman, I think Pettifleur's facial features look VERY indigenous to South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, etc). She looks like a typical South Asian woman - I actually look a bit like her!

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I don't understand why Pettifleur would be ashamed to admit she is Sri Lanka'n ?! No one can help what their heritage is, and there isn't one nationality that is better than any others. Pettifleur operates in a preconceived notion that she is perceived as less than others, which is probably all in her own head.

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She's an idiot, that's why. I actually found out just a couple of weeks ago that my boss used to date Pettifleur. He didn't give anything away, unfortunately, only that she was a flirt and it's funny because when they met, she was dating his friend at the time (no respect for bro code, lol!) They are both from Sri Lanka and emigrated to Australia in the eighties and they are around the same age....I think he realised what a mistake it was and from the sounds of it, it was fairly short lived, nor is there any love lost between them. I think he was embarrassed to get involved with her at all, once he found out what she was really like. Sounds like she may have peeved a few people off in their social group. Apparently, her family back home in Sri Lanka are quite poor....maybe that's why she's so obsessed with money?

"You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you." Mr Darcy

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