Last night I felt really touched. (Heh., how come it sounds so…Super Sanya Tiga for those dirty minded people, whooooshhhhh!)
For those who don’t know, since my term is about ten years old term, Super Sanya Tiga is when a comic character, uh, I think when Dragonball, has more advanced power, then he becomes white and the hair grows long all of the sudden. When he is angry and need to kick some ass, he becomes Super Sanya Tiga!!! So if my friend gets agitated I like to anticipate and comment that they’ll become Super Sanya Tiga(!!) etc etc, followed with Kameha-meha!! Kameha-kameha is a powerful move with this big fire ball. Regardless whichever, there is a big chance that you’ll be dead meat.
Btw, the information above might be less than 100% true, I probably mixed up the characters etc, ask somebody in their THIRTIES, they will know. : )
For Doraemon, Siaw Ting Tang, ask me, I KNOW.
Anyway, yesterday was a very long day for me. Because it was Monday, and because I burnt my weekend in class, and because we also had class after work on Monday. But the class had been interesting so far I’m okay with it.
Last night, I felt good because someone complimented me. Raise your hand if you don’t feel good with compliment. The hell with you, but I do. Especially it’s the compliment that carry good weight and with honest intention.
It’s actually a very simple compliment, but it also speaks through the eye of the beholder (apa coba) that it made me feel really surprised? Good? Me and one friend of mine during the journey home were talking about the assignment etc etc and we happened to talk about Chinese written language. As usual, most Indonesian Chinese at my generation are blind and deaf about Mandarin language because it was not allowed back then (other reasons involved we are lazy generation to learn), so knowing how to write own name is actually an accomplishment. I can write my own name, uh, could, because my Chinese writing is so ugly that my stroke can go anywhere as they please and it creates another meaning. Being haven’t written for a long time, I also forget how to write. But not defeated so fast, I have another clue; my name is Sui (for water) with another stroke and becomes Ice (Ping). Huehehehehehe…it’s barely human and obviously not feminine, but I love the name because it’s different, although I used to shy with it when I was little, because Ping is commonly used for male’s name, and during my childhood, there was a very famous movie involving a little boy called Siaw Ping Ping who was very ‘sue’ (sial) and tortured by his stepmother and so on, so on, so my classmate would pull my leg and said that I have male name. We can actually find a lot of male with Ping name, but they all have different meaning with mine. On my Junior High, I was even called Ice Princess or Ice Queen. Hey, sound cool! Right? Right? Hmmhh?
Anyway, I refused to write and told my friend he should be able to write it because it’s Sui with Stroke type of Ping. As everyone else, he was surprised. Of course before attacked, I was defending myself. Ping as in Ice is cool. I’m a very cold person. Because not only one, I have two Ice in my name, so I’m cold cold. Brr..
But instead, he turned very serious and said I’m not a cold person, I am very kind.
And it's a beautiful name.
(Come on, don't puke on me first..)
He is not a flowery type of person or chatterbox. If he was, the compliment would pass through my both ears because I won't take it seriously.
I certainly don’t jump over the head about how rare a person says my name is beautiful, indeed, I never heard of it. (There are certainly times when I watched drama when a girl introduced her name as whatever Rose, Lavender, Cherry, CocaCola etc and a guy says it’s a beautiful name, I would have prrrrt yayaayyayya kind of envy).
I’m more surprised with the background that somebody would say to me that I’m nice just because of very little thing I did I didn’t even realized that it’s special.
The story is he had been through hell of weekend combining works and classes, so he felt sick and I happened to know that because we coincidentally met on the way to the class Saturday and Sunday morning. He was quite in bad shape on Sunday that I dropped him an sms on Monday checking because I was aware that we still have class on Monday night. Just a gesture between friends.
But I do find the reality that gestures can mean a lot of things. It can touch a lot of people because maybe basic gesture is not really common again nowadays for some people and they are touched even from simple things that the person doing the gesture don’t realize it.
One other example is on last Christmas, I made little Ginger Bread doll with the scarf and gave one each to my colleagues. Because everyone including me received so many gifts during previous Christmas, I felt bad and swore that I also give out something the next year, so as unpractical as I am, I thought ten sewn ginger breads is not much work, I end up having to sacrifice my sleeping time while cursing stupid stupid stupid to myself and only able to give out the gifts on 26th. Surprise surprise, one of my new colleague specially went and bought something for me the day after, I don’t know whether he was new and don’t know about gifts tradition during Christmas, or he didn’t know that I made it for everyone, but I felt ashamed because not many of the dolls were made with ‘love’. : )
I remember one episode of Friends, I actually read and participate with some cyber friends in discussion about it, the one that Joey was successfully proved to Phoebe that there is no such thing like non-egoistic kindness. Realize it or not, people always egoistic when they do something good because it makes them feel good about themselves. I didn’t mean or hope for compliment but I know that if he dropped sick the day after I would feel guilty not asking about him because I happened to know his condition the last time I met him. So, yes, I’m being egoistic. Now with addition that my gesture is appreciated in a way, it makes me feel good and special and that’s another huge point for my ego.
It happened in the past and it will happen in the future. But should I feel bad about it or not, it all depends on me. I do have my time when I’m cursing and swearing when I obviously doing good for someone and they didn’t even appreciate it. Lack of basic gesture, sekrupnya ada yang kurang, etc etc. But many of the thing that surprised me comes from small little gesture that out of spontaneity for people I care about, new friends, strangers or even enemies, and the last three are actually more common that old friends. Surprise? The more I have candles on my birthday cake, the more I realize that many friends are your friends because they take you for granted. But the last three would act out of honesty (except when they are trying to get something from you of course), mostly, their compliment weight more. Look into their eyes, at thirty, we are scientifically mature enough to read honestly and pure intention through eyes. And last night, I know I got priceless one.
Maybe somebody won’t feel so good if they did their gesture in hoping for thank you and appreciation, because whatever altered, the concept is not the same. But doing something basic, and you get surprised, it’s really make you feel special.
:”) :”) :”)
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We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
- Oscar Wilde (from Lady Windermere’s Fan)
The one being carried does not realize how far away the town is.
- Unknown (Nigeria)
If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.
- Anita Koddick
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
- Anonymous
