OMG I have a story about my first green lady experience. And yeah if the bride side is green then you better prepare because they do drink a lot.
My first experience was the worst and most embarrassing of all. I was 17 at that time and had no idea what a green lady was supposed to do. My mom and sisters just told me that I was supposed to just follow the bride around and keep my eye on her. They also told me that there will be some drinking at the end but I can just tell them that I can’t drink and they won’t give it to me but it was a whole different story when I went. At first, I didn’t want to do it because first of all, I just broke up with my boyfriend of 1 year and was still stressed out. Second of all, the bride lives in Wisconsin and I live in Minnesota and I didn’t want to be in a car for 3-4 hours in Hmong clothes. Third, I will be with a whole bunch of strangers which is scary well excluding my brother. Anyways, it was my brother’s wedding (my sister-in-law is Hmong green) and I’m the youngest daughter who is the only one not married so I had no choice. Sitting in the car for hours in hmong clothes was horrible. It was so embarrassing making stops to use the restroom and walking in the store wearing Hmong clothes having people look at you thinking where the heck you came from. When we got to her house it was like in the late afternoon and there were a lot of people there and I was so nervous because I don’t know anybody. We just went to change and didn’t really do anything much but just sat around and I just had to follow her wherever she goes there were times that I would lose her because when I went to use the bathroom and come out she would not be there and I’d have to go look for her. It made me feel so stupid like I’m not doing my job. One time I had to use the restroom and I didn’t know that their door didn’t have a lock I think it was broken or something I thought nobody was in the bathroom so I opened the door and walked in on her brother pissing.. So embarrassing.. Later on when I went to take a bath I felt so uncomfortable because there were no lock on the door. I told my sister in law to stand by the door and not let anybody enter. It just gets worse. Their bathtub didn’t even have a shower curtain.. And they didn’t even have a shower head at the top. They had a shower spray where you have to hold it by the hand so I had to use one hand to hold the shower spray and one hand to shampoo my hair.. How can these people shower like this? I was considering not even taking a bath at all but with all the stickiness from wearing the hmong clothes I had no choice or else I wouldn’t be able to sleep through the whole night. I don’t even know if my sister in law is keeping watch on the door because I saw somebody opened the door and closed it really quick.. I just tried to hurry no matter if I’m as clean as I want to be or not.. I just don’t want anybody walking in on me naked. When I was done I went out and she was talking to her brothers. I asked her if she ever left that whole time and she said no but whatever I was just ready to go to sleep and go home the next day. In the morning, we had to wake up early and help cook and prepare for the feast. There wasn’t really much cooking because it was all done the day before. We just have to prepare some side dishes and other stuff. After the eating, we had to go change back into Hmong clothes. And before we left, that’s when all the drinking starts. It was crazy! Not at all what I expected and was told. All of the sudden, my sister in law disappeared and I was by myself. Lots of people kept on bringing me beer.. Everyone was coming at me like a herd of hyenas.. There were two long lines.. Some people had beer some people had juice some people had pop.. Mostly beer though.. I didn’t know what to do.. Each person come and say their piece and then offered me the beer.. Some people I don’t even know what the heck they’re saying because they were speaking in Hmong green.. I told him I can’t drink but they still force you to drink.... If you don’t drink it they will say that you’re not happy to have their daughter as your sister in law and that makes you feel bad so I had no choice but to drink it.. Some of the younger guys are more generous and will ask you to just take a sip and they’ll finish the rest… my brothers and cousins said they would be there to help me drink but I don’t even see them anywhere.. Some kind of brothers and cousins they are.. I was actually really scared there because the lines just kept getting longer with more people and beer. I don’t even know how many cups I dranked.. Everything was so overwhelming for me.. I started feeling emotional.. I think I was starting to get drunk.. I felt dizzy.. Then my brothers and cousins finally came and started helping me drink.. I was drunk. I couldn’t even stand on my feet.. I remember these two old ladies asking me if I was okay.. Then these two guys put my arms around each of their shoulders and took me to the sofa.. I sat down there for a while and I remember I was crying and I was shouting some stuff about my ex boyfriend! How embarrassing! I was drunk but I was still aware of everything that’s going on in my surroundings but I just couldn’t control myself.. I don’t know if I threw up or not but this one guy was wiping me with a cold washcloth… I could see a lot of people looking at me.. My head felt so heavy I couldn’t even lift it up.. I was thinking a lot about my ex-boyfriend and I was still crying.. That’s the first time I learn that drinking beer makes me emotional when I’m drunk. When we got home everyone was waiting for us at home and it was about late evening.. I started to get sober and I was like “what happened?� It’s like you can’t really remember what happened until you think back.. I couldn’t even remember what happened until my brothers and cousins told everyone what happened and then I start thinking back and remembered..everyone was laughing and making fun of me at how I got wasted… Gosh I was so embarrassed.. This experience became everyone’s topic of conversation for weeks…. I swore that I would never do this again.. But unlucky me I had to do it again for my cousin but this time I was lucky. I didn’t get to drink as much.. The second time was much better. I noticed that sometimes being the green lady some of the bride’s relatives will come and flirt with you so if you pretend to flirt back it will be a really good advantage later on when they offer you beer.. Because if they like you they will drink the beer for you.. You just kind of have to try to sweet talk them..lol… well no more green lady for me! Good luck to whoever is going to be a green lady for the first time.
My first experience was the worst and most embarrassing of all. I was 17 at that time and had no idea what a green lady was supposed to do. My mom and sisters just told me that I was supposed to just follow the bride around and keep my eye on her. They also told me that there will be some drinking at the end but I can just tell them that I can’t drink and they won’t give it to me but it was a whole different story when I went. At first, I didn’t want to do it because first of all, I just broke up with my boyfriend of 1 year and was still stressed out. Second of all, the bride lives in Wisconsin and I live in Minnesota and I didn’t want to be in a car for 3-4 hours in Hmong clothes. Third, I will be with a whole bunch of strangers which is scary well excluding my brother. Anyways, it was my brother’s wedding (my sister-in-law is Hmong green) and I’m the youngest daughter who is the only one not married so I had no choice. Sitting in the car for hours in hmong clothes was horrible. It was so embarrassing making stops to use the restroom and walking in the store wearing Hmong clothes having people look at you thinking where the heck you came from. When we got to her house it was like in the late afternoon and there were a lot of people there and I was so nervous because I don’t know anybody. We just went to change and didn’t really do anything much but just sat around and I just had to follow her wherever she goes there were times that I would lose her because when I went to use the bathroom and come out she would not be there and I’d have to go look for her. It made me feel so stupid like I’m not doing my job. One time I had to use the restroom and I didn’t know that their door didn’t have a lock I think it was broken or something I thought nobody was in the bathroom so I opened the door and walked in on her brother pissing.. So embarrassing.. Later on when I went to take a bath I felt so uncomfortable because there were no lock on the door. I told my sister in law to stand by the door and not let anybody enter. It just gets worse. Their bathtub didn’t even have a shower curtain.. And they didn’t even have a shower head at the top. They had a shower spray where you have to hold it by the hand so I had to use one hand to hold the shower spray and one hand to shampoo my hair.. How can these people shower like this? I was considering not even taking a bath at all but with all the stickiness from wearing the hmong clothes I had no choice or else I wouldn’t be able to sleep through the whole night. I don’t even know if my sister in law is keeping watch on the door because I saw somebody opened the door and closed it really quick.. I just tried to hurry no matter if I’m as clean as I want to be or not.. I just don’t want anybody walking in on me naked. When I was done I went out and she was talking to her brothers. I asked her if she ever left that whole time and she said no but whatever I was just ready to go to sleep and go home the next day. In the morning, we had to wake up early and help cook and prepare for the feast. There wasn’t really much cooking because it was all done the day before. We just have to prepare some side dishes and other stuff. After the eating, we had to go change back into Hmong clothes. And before we left, that’s when all the drinking starts. It was crazy! Not at all what I expected and was told. All of the sudden, my sister in law disappeared and I was by myself. Lots of people kept on bringing me beer.. Everyone was coming at me like a herd of hyenas.. There were two long lines.. Some people had beer some people had juice some people had pop.. Mostly beer though.. I didn’t know what to do.. Each person come and say their piece and then offered me the beer.. Some people I don’t even know what the heck they’re saying because they were speaking in Hmong green.. I told him I can’t drink but they still force you to drink.... If you don’t drink it they will say that you’re not happy to have their daughter as your sister in law and that makes you feel bad so I had no choice but to drink it.. Some of the younger guys are more generous and will ask you to just take a sip and they’ll finish the rest… my brothers and cousins said they would be there to help me drink but I don’t even see them anywhere.. Some kind of brothers and cousins they are.. I was actually really scared there because the lines just kept getting longer with more people and beer. I don’t even know how many cups I dranked.. Everything was so overwhelming for me.. I started feeling emotional.. I think I was starting to get drunk.. I felt dizzy.. Then my brothers and cousins finally came and started helping me drink.. I was drunk. I couldn’t even stand on my feet.. I remember these two old ladies asking me if I was okay.. Then these two guys put my arms around each of their shoulders and took me to the sofa.. I sat down there for a while and I remember I was crying and I was shouting some stuff about my ex boyfriend! How embarrassing! I was drunk but I was still aware of everything that’s going on in my surroundings but I just couldn’t control myself.. I don’t know if I threw up or not but this one guy was wiping me with a cold washcloth… I could see a lot of people looking at me.. My head felt so heavy I couldn’t even lift it up.. I was thinking a lot about my ex-boyfriend and I was still crying.. That’s the first time I learn that drinking beer makes me emotional when I’m drunk. When we got home everyone was waiting for us at home and it was about late evening.. I started to get sober and I was like “what happened?� It’s like you can’t really remember what happened until you think back.. I couldn’t even remember what happened until my brothers and cousins told everyone what happened and then I start thinking back and remembered..everyone was laughing and making fun of me at how I got wasted… Gosh I was so embarrassed.. This experience became everyone’s topic of conversation for weeks…. I swore that I would never do this again.. But unlucky me I had to do it again for my cousin but this time I was lucky. I didn’t get to drink as much.. The second time was much better. I noticed that sometimes being the green lady some of the bride’s relatives will come and flirt with you so if you pretend to flirt back it will be a really good advantage later on when they offer you beer.. Because if they like you they will drink the beer for you.. You just kind of have to try to sweet talk them..lol… well no more green lady for me! Good luck to whoever is going to be a green lady for the first time.
