There have been multiple times when I have been introduced to someone and I immediately forget their names, which is not a big deal because people are introduced to each other every time and they tend to forget each other’s names as quickly as they heard it. The problem actually begins when the person remembers your name and talks to you every single time you happen to pass by each other.
Now, hoping to come off as not rude and arrogant you talk back but all the time hoping that you never have to use his name in the conversation.
But then I got introduced to social networking sites and everything changed!
Now if I am confused about someone’s name I search them through a mutual friend or ask them to send me a friend request and Voila! Problem solved. I know the person’s name.
Thank you social media! You changed my life forever!
Watching ‘The Big Bang Theory’ for the umpteenth time, I happened to reach the end of season 1 where Sheldon is explaining the Schrodinger’s cat theory to Penny. And I looked at it and thought that was a really nice way to approach relationships.
Leanord and Penny on The Big Bang Theory
We don’t know if the cat is dead or alive in the Schrodinger’s cat experiment until we open the box, similarly relationships which have not yet started are both dead and alive at the same time. You will have to observe it to find out which state they are in by, possibly, going out on dates.
The theory is not that complicated on the surface and is a great parallel as to how relationships should work. Anyway, so I knew this girl who I quite liked and was not really sure if I should ask out and I am guessing she felt the same way about going out with me, so I went about explaining this theory to her so that she could see the perspective I was aiming for.
I explained the theory for about 15 minutes because she had never heard of it, at all times drawing parallels to the dating concept, for her to understand exactly what I was getting at.
After all the explaining was over, a few moments of silence ensued during which I was not sure what to do except probably rethink everything I had said and wonder if I could have put it in a better way.
‘So you are telling me that the cat could be either dead or alive in the box?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ I nodded vigorously thankful that she had probably understood everything I told her.
‘That’s a very mean thing to do to a cat,’ she furiously stated. ‘Why would you want to keep it in a box with radioactive substance and not even find out if it is alive? That is simply pathetic!’
I looked at her face for some time, confused as I was, hoping to see a hint of sarcasm on it.
After I concluded that she was quite serious about her complain, I realized that the box had been opened.
Staying in a hostel, I got into this, albeit not so good, habit of staying up late watching movies, playing games or sometimes doing random nothing on the night before a weekend or a holiday. This generally caused me to miss breakfast those days.
An observant and slightly inquisitive friend of mine asked me why I miss breakfast. ‘Do you not like the breakfast in mess?’
‘I like the breakfast in mess,’ I replied calmly. ‘That is the only meal which I like in the mess. In fact, I like breakfast so much that if it were up to me I would have had breakfast for lunch and dinner as well.’
There was a slight pause as I swallowed a large swig of my coffee.
Boarding done and a long flight ahead, I was bored already. I waited patiently as the flight attendant explained how to correctly put on my seat belt and how to blow into the life jacket in case of an emergency water evacuation. Sometimes I am just confused as to why I look at these instructions every single time, then I look at the cute air hostess and realize why.
Soon, we had reached the part where the flight had started to make a head way towards the runway and I was really bored. I really needed to do something crazy, so I looked around for inspiration. I see the guy next to me typing something on WhatsApp on his phone. Ah, WhatsApp! How it has changed things around us.
So, anyway, I look at him and he is really engrossed in what he is doing and that’s when I decide what to do.
‘Excuse me,’ I called him in what would normally, in a non-flight situation, be considered as an average decibel volume and looked at him wide eyed. ‘She said, all electronic items to be switched off.’
‘Yes, yes, in a while,’ he was definitely startled but I had not had enough yet.
‘Are you crazy?’ I raised my voice and widened my eyes even more. ‘She said it will hamper the communication of the aircraft. It is about safety of all passengers. Switch it off. You will get us all killed!’
The guy turned redder than beetroot and immediately switched off his cell phone. I maintained a constant gaze of bewilderment as he did so. I controlled my laughter really hard and I had to do it even more because from the corner of my eyes I could see some other passengers take out their cell phones and switch it off as well.
That made my day and satisfied my hunger for craziness for the rest of the journey too.
The AnonymouSTalker 