Skip to main content

Stating the obvious

My mother-in-law has a habit of stating the obvious. Like she would ask me what day it is, and I say it's Monday, and she would immediately riposte "so tomorrow is Tuesday, then.." or She might ask me, as I was reclining on the sofa watching a football match, who are playing? And I say, Selangor versus Pahang... Then, she'll ask which one is Selangor. And, I would answer, those guys in red. Then, she'll say, so those in yellow are Pahang?

Maybe it is how she was brought up. Maybe, she is dogmatic. The world is out to take something from her, one of her possessions. There are thieves amongst us.... trust no one... take nothing for granted... check your facts.

It is something quite amusing in the first few years of my married life and while she was living in Singapore and me and Sapiah are living in Subang Jaya. But when we lived under the same roof, it started to get to me. She would ask something, and I would answer then she will retort the obvious.

Then, today I had taken something (that I thought) as obvious. A man promised that he will deliver something to me today and I took his word for it. I ordered it a week ago. I ordered something similar last year, but a different person was attending to me and he delivered the thing exactly as he had promised.

I called this other guy today, and he sounded surprised that I needed the thing today. He asked for another week... which means he didn't even start on my order for the past week.

I was being "un-annoying"... I did not want to hurt the guy's feeling, yet I end up frustrated and angry and disappointed.

Perhaps, I should have harassed the guy, everyday... telling him, reminding him that I need the thing today.

I should have stated the obvious!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pak Mat Beca

I started school in 1971. I went to Sekolah Ismail (Dua), as far as I am concerned the only primary school in the whole universe and every kid must go there or the government will put their parents away forever. The "Dua" or Two (2), does not mean there were two Sekolah Ismails. There was only one, except that there were two sessions, morning and afternoon. When I started in standard one, I was in the morning session. Apparently, somehow, the two Ismails alternate, and I really can't recall ever having to go to school in the afternoon. Every morning, my cousin, the late Hashimah Hashim (Allah bless her soul), and I would wait for Pak Mat to pick us up in his beca, his trishaw. And, until I changed school in 1976 (that's another story to tell), Pak Mat and his beca would take me to school every school day. I know of no other way to go to school and I did not really appreciate the distance that Pak Mat had to cycle to pick us up and send us to our respective s...

For the Love of God

Someone told me a joke about a man who had just bought a car. It was his first car and, not wanting to have even a scratch on it, he took it to a hindu temple, a buddhist temple, a church and a mosque. At the hindu temple, the hindu priest chanted mantras over the car and tied a red string around the car's right wing mirror. The buddhist monk sprinkled the car with water after chanting traditional mantras and then a white string was tied to the left wing mirror. The christian priest blessed the car with holy water and gave the driver a cross to hang from the rear view mirror. At the mosque, the imam was astounded since nobody ever asked to bless a car before. So after a recitation of selected verses from the Qur'an, he took a hacksaw and promptly cut the tip off the car's exhaust pipe..... to circumcise it. When I first heard this story, I thought the new car owner was an atheist, albeit a superstitious one. This man, I had deduced, did not really believe in the existence o...

Being Vulcan

Spock, son of Sarek . Born: 2230.Died: 2263 (in alternate universe) aged 162 Vulcans , I assume, would be well into rebuilding their civilisation and restoring their culture on their new planet after  Nero  destroyed their home planet in 2258. Vulcans first came to Earth in April of 2063 when they detected the first-ever warp drive test flight piloted by Dr Zefram Cochrane . Our allegiance with them has contributed to the advancement of human technologies, which, in turn, have enabled interplanetary relations and the exploration of space —the final frontier . Legend has it that Vulcans were very emotional creatures, but their religion (although they do not refer to it as one), founded upon the teachings of the great philosopher Surak , forbids them to show emotion and to embrace logic. Humans will do well to adopt the teaching of Surak. Humans may not be as emotionally volatile as prehistoric Vulcans, but we would be better off if we could better control our emot...