Attitude Barrier

AKL passport control. "When did you buy your ticket?" "Do you have relatives here?" "Where have you been in the last 12 months?" Unfriendly tone. Sour frown. Interrogative stare. Then when I answered, "I'm here to run the marathon." to his what-is-your purpose-of-visit-question he had a change of heart. "I wish I could do a marathon. I did some half marathons." "Is this your first marathon?" "How many marathons so far?" "What is your best time?" "Good luck!" Pleasant tone. A smile! Inquisitive stare. 

Two Sides

The good things about flying in the wee hour are there are no traffic and no queue. The bad things about flying in the wee hour is when you happen to sit across an elderly couple who shared a tablet to watch a video with a loud volume. You found yourself caught in the middle of a battle between your drowsy body parts and your annoyed ego. 

Super Hero

One hot Sunday in a TransJakarta. A kind attendant ask passengers to give away their seats to Marvin & Maureen, my little nephew & niece. Polda stop. A wave of passengers rushed in and I got separated from them. Seven stops later I inched my way through the jam packed bus, found my kin were on their knees on their seats looking outside, enthusiastically pointing at this and that. Then Marvin said, "Don't worry Maureen, I have a plan. If we can't find tante Tina we can take a taxi and pay at home."

Likewise

Saturday evening at a chain noodle outlet in a mall. Dinner date with my nephew and niece. Marvin, a fourth grader, and Maureen, a second grader. In a hallway right in front of the open restaurant about eight to ten kids ranging from 7-12 years old were running back and forth chasing a balloon yelling and screaming like crazy. Their parents were busy talking inside the outlet. "I don't think it's a good idea to run around in a busy hallway, "I started a conversation with my hyperactive kin. To my surprise Maureen replied, "Yea, this is not a playground." Marvin added, "First one of them is going to bump a chair, the chair will knock off a table with a glass of water and water spilled on an electric circuit which cause fire and explosion. And everyone die!" Wise beyond their years. I'm impressed. 

Catch Of The Day #39

Oh Snap

Suatu pagi di outlet franchise toko foto kopi. Jam 7:56. "Mbak foto kopi masing-masing sepuluh ya," saya menyerahkan dua lembar kertas, cukup terkesan melihat dua pegawai sudah sibuk sepagi ini. "Jam delapan mbak," kata si mas yang berdiri persis di samping mesin foto kopi. "Di belakang?" tanya saya heran. Si mbak di depan cash register bantu menjelaskan, cukup maklum kuping saya belum berfungsi 100% di pagi hari, "Kami buka jam delapan mbak!" Hah?! Kepingin ajak si mbak dan si mas berdebat, tapi yakin percuma buang waktu dan energi, karena mereka cuma pelaksana peraturan, bukan yang membuat peraturan. Ahirnya saya duduk menunggu. Jam 8.01 lewat PA system yang suaranya amat keras terdengar, "Customer nomor satu, harap ke counter nomor satu!" padahal tidak ada pelanggan lain kecuali saya dan jarak tempat saya duduk dan si mbak tidak sampai satu meter. I guess rule is rule. Peraturan dibuat untuk ditaati bukan untuk dilanggar. 

Wreck This Journal, Keri Smith

SOP

One fine Saturday in an upscale mall. A black van approaching the main drop off area. It stopped for a total time of 10 minutes 45 seconds to drop off its passenger. No, it didn't carry like 15 kids. There were only 3 adults (a driver, a nanny and a lady) and 1½ kids (a toddler and a baby) inside the van. They follow Six Steps For Getting Out Of A Van: Driver take stroller out of car & assembly it near passenger door. Keep van's air condition on. CHECK! Nanny get out of van carrying Child#1 and put Child#1 in the stroller. Driver assists. CHECK! Driver take a diaper bag from van and wait by the stroller. Keep Child#1 company. CHECK! Nanny take Child#2 from the car in a baby sling. Take diaper bag from Driver. CHECK! Driver go back to van. CHECK! Lady get out of car and walk straight into mall. Nanny follow. Driver drive away. CHECK!

Put Down

Stick and stones may break my bones. But words will never harm me. So not true! One hectic late afternoon at a check out counter of a supermarket. A long queue. A young boy, a bit too old to be in a shopping cart in my opinion, curiously touched anything within his reach until he accidentally knocked a box of candy bars. "ABANG!" her mom yelled on top of her lungs, startled not just the boy but everyone else in the queue, "Can't you do anything right? You are such a big baby!" You should have seen the little boy's face.

Servant Leader

One quiet Thursday morning. Gardeners who tend plants, trees and flowers in our apartment complex work in a dark blue overall and a blue cap. Today I saw a man in a different uniform. A crisp white long sleeve shirt, a tie, a grey flat front dress pants and a shiny black shoes. First he hosed some plants, got down on his knee and picked some dead leaves, continued with a lively discussion with two guys in a blue overall about different way to safely trim a tree. A leader who's not afraid to get down and dirty to get things done; a leader who respect and value subordinates as equals. My kind of leader. 

Bookworm

One lovely morning in a swimming pool. A Japanese guy was standing still and reading a book near the pool. By his sock mark on his calf I'm pretty sure he is a golfer. Or maybe a cyclist. Into the pool and on with my morning practice. Thirty laps later, he was still there at the exact same spot doing exactly the same thing; standing still and reading. Must be a page turning book.  The kind that demand its reader to finish at one go.

Dena

Positively Pointless Pineapple Princess. You are my Painkiller. Papoy!

Mark My Words

One fine Saturday on a treadmill in a gym of an apartment. Feeling rather awesome I'm almost accomplish my goal when suddenly, "Are you done yet? You've been using it for more than an hour!" An elderly lady said in a rather harsh tone. "Could you wait ten minutes? I'm almost done," I said in between breaths. First she stood right beside me and just stared at me for a while. When her staring didn't stop me, she went outside and called a duty manager. That didn't stop me either. I kept running until my ten minutes was up. I said what I meant and I meant what I said. 

Out Of The Blue

It's not even my birthday and Christmas is two months away. You are awesome! To top it off it rained cats and dogs after months of no rain. Must be my lucky day. I will hold you responsible if from now on I will be often glued to my note. ;-)

Keep Calm Look Around

God has a sense of humour. The day I pray to make peace with Jakarta traffic and ask to replace my hostile attitude with a just-go-with-the-flow attitude, sure enough I was stuck in a mean traffic. Good thing I had plan: Ferris Bueller Plan. "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Now I know who to call if I need balloons for whatever reason. ;-) 

Rina

This is not goodbye. Until we meet again in heaven. You are forever near and dear to my heart. Your body gave up to pulmonary hypertension but not your spirit. You left an eternal footprint in my heart. Hope and pray I can be as strong and courageous as you were. "A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." Christopher Reeve