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FUNNY, ZANY EXPERIENCES MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON

When faced with a problem, when caught in a situation, what do you do about it? How do you react? Let me share with you some experiences and reactions to them.

Too Clever With Words

The first story took place many years ago. It has to do with someone who had consumed a vast amount of alcohol and was driving on the roads. The Police stopped him and they asked him to take tests related to his alcohol consumption. The officers asked him to walk a straight line. Inebriated as he was, he asked the officers present the following question: “Is there a Safety Net underneath?” Needless to say the officers were not amused and he had to face the full consequences of his actions.

At A Cocktail Party

Many years ago, I attended a cocktail reception hosted by a financial house at a ballroom in a top hotel. Young and wanting to impress by looking good, I chose a designer outfit which was bright and glamorous. Feeling great, I walked into the ballroom, took a drink and started conversing with other people. The conversation was scintillating, the canapes delicious and I was enjoying myself. More and more people filled the ballroom. And then, I looked up and saw a woman across the room, wearing the same dress, in the same colour as mine! I was young then and not as confident of myself as I am now, I felt embarrassed. I was ashamed! I felt awful! All I wanted was to disappear from the party. Perhaps, a hole might suddenly appear in the floor around me and I could be swallowed into the hole. After a few more minutes, I walked to the door and quickly left the ballroom. Once outside and back home I still felt the humiliation and the entire scene kept coming back to me. For weeks I relived the entire experience and I was in shock!

Older and more confident of myself now, I realize that I should have reacted differently. I should have gone up to the woman in the same outfit and I should have said to her, “Wow! Someone else with great taste!” We could have had a good laugh, introduced ourselves to each other and moved on. I could have left the party feeling better, feeling happier. After all, a dress is a dress, nothing more.

An Anniversary Party

A few years ago, I was at a garden party in a beautiful home in Epsom, Surrey, England. There were many people present at this party to celebrate a wedding anniversary. I was wearing a silk trouser suit. As I bent down to talk to a little child, my trousers fell. There was just a zip and no hook to hold the trousers together. Totally shocked, I quickly bent down and pulled my trousers up. Fortunately my top was a long one. I can tell you that even though I carried on conversation with others and sat through a long lunch, I did feel awful! When I returned home I took the trousers to my designers and told them what had happened. I asked for a hook put on the trousers. All that the two designers did was to look at me with disbelief and they just roared with laughter!

Falling Asleep

I have a tendency to fall asleep anywhere and everywhere if and when I am tired. I have done this in restaurants, homes, cinemas and bars. There may be loud music and voices in the background but I am oblivious to all this and will just shut my eyes if I am tired. Most of my friends know this and they just accept it as a part of the evening’s programme! One day I was in a music lounge talking to a friend when I nodded off! Fortunately the people with me just ignored me and carried on talking. After a few minutes, I woke up and put my hand forward to reach for the nuts in a bowl. I did not see clearly and felt what I was touching was cold. Yes! I had put my entire hand into the glass of our friend and I was picking at the ice in his glass! The cold of the ice gave me a shock! And all I could say was, “Ooh! That was cold!”

My Big Dramatic Scene

A long, long time ago, as an undergraduate, I played the role of Hecuba in Euripedes’s play, Women of Troy. If you know Greek plays, you will know that there is a lot of crying that happens throughout the play. Hecuba was devastated that her son had died and that her grandson was now dead. She sits on stage with the child in her lap. She cries and cries and she has many lines to say. The young child who played the part of the grandchild was the nephew of another undergraduate. As I sat there and cried my eyes out and as I struggled to say my lines with great sadness, the little boy on my lap who was supposed to be dead, got tired of all this show of tragic emotion, and he moved his legs! The entire audience in the theatre roared with laughter. I did not know if I should scold the boy, continue with my lines or just die on stage. Here’s me in this mother of all tragic roles and this boy spoils it all. I just continued with my lines and finished the scene.

Challenges Make You A Better Person

Ah! I believe that the zany experiences we meet are just there to challenge us, to make us laugh out loud and to make us better people. Face them with pleasure. Do not be afraid and you will be just great!

5 thoughts on “FUNNY, ZANY EXPERIENCES MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON”

  1. Dear Zaibun,

    Thank you for your honest recounting of all these events. They bring a smile to my face and are definitely a refection of who you are, real and lovely!

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