My OperaUp Close & Personal
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 7:52:49 AM
The title has nothing to do with the content of this entry. I just felt an inexplicable liking for the phrase. Well.
Two things.
As many have known, I have made a point of giving as less personal information as possible in this blog, and have also been trying to make it stop turning up on google when someone searches my school's name (which didn't seem to succeed by the way, although I haven't really checked). However, as many have somehow sensed something between Jin and me, it's perhaps alright for me to leave some words about that here - although for many of you this "news" is already months old. So what happened? Nothing happened.
Nothing happened. Tendai once said that there was a difference between doing nothing and nothing happened, and doing nothing then something happened - and this occasion is exactly the latter. So nothing happened, and that was exactly the problem.
Second thing.
When walking out of the staff room the other night, I was in a completely different state of mind: not in doubt but almost certain, not just knowing but kind of understanding - and above all, I was left contemplating how unstable the most seemingly stable people could be. Had I always missed the point before, or did I just never take his words seriously enough?
When I walked into the staff room just before that on the same night, my intention was the emails I sent Ken and what they were about - but actually, we never talked over that. We did mentioned it; but on thinking back I always realize: (hm,) that wasn't the problem. Well, maybe it was, but not the one I had had on my mind when pressing that "send" button on yahoo mail.
So Quique just missed it. Or Ken missed it. Or I did, in the first place.
So what was the problem? I'm not sure if it's still important enough to be told. These days I have heard from friends everywhere around the world, and soon realized that comparing to many others' situations, mine was much better to be in. It amazed me how many times I had told this story over and over to different people; and it seemed that for virtually everyone, there would be a time - sooner or later - when they just need to hear it. So here it is, this time written down, for YOU. Maybe this is the right time for you to read. Maybe now it just goes over your mind, but at some point later, it will do its job. So...
Almost one year before, last June, I transited in Miami for two hours before flying to Dallas. Two hours wasn't a redundant amount of time, considering that there were many things to be done: checking in to the US, switching to the domestic line, getting and re-checking my luggages, and getting to the right gate at the right terminal. I was, however, stopped at the check in counter and asked to wait in a room with some other people (later on, I found out that a Vietnamese guy with the same last name Nguyen had lost his passport). Time just passed by, the waiting seemed to be forever, and the officers weren't seem to be doing anything in spite of my keeping reminding them that my next flight would take off soon... and not until there was only 30 minutes left had a black officer gestured me to his office.
"What's the problem, sir?" I asked him after sitting down.
"There's no problem." - he answered.
"There's no problem? But..."
"There's only a situation, like all other situations we're working on."
I was really perplexed, so he went on, "look, young people's problem is that they see everything as problems. You have to understand that there are different situations in life; and when something happens, you're just in a situation. A problem is intimidating and hard and pessimistic, a situation is not - and sometimes the difference is just your own attitude towards what happens. So, do you want to rephrase your question now?"
He talked so fast that it took me some seconds to really digest what he was saying, after which I said skeptically: "So... what's the situation, sir?"
He picked up my passport from the drawer, and started to explain. It was about 25 minutes to the flight.
(FYI, I did missed that flight. I got free dinner, hotel, and breakfast, and was still on time for the flight after that since I would have to lay over in Dallas for 14 hours, according to the initial plan. That whole trip from Costa Rica, to Miami, to Dallas, to Toukyou, to HCMC, was just crazy. Believe me, this incident was just one of many things happened.)
"You hurt me every time you say that, because it means you don't value me as a friend. And friends should bother each other!" So he said in reply to my saying that I shouldn't have bothered him. I immediately wanted to say "You never bothered me." Don't get me wrong though, I had no doubt about the sincerity of his words or his intention behind them - which was the reason why I chose not to say that. They were just words, after all.
Two things.
As many have known, I have made a point of giving as less personal information as possible in this blog, and have also been trying to make it stop turning up on google when someone searches my school's name (which didn't seem to succeed by the way, although I haven't really checked). However, as many have somehow sensed something between Jin and me, it's perhaps alright for me to leave some words about that here - although for many of you this "news" is already months old. So what happened? Nothing happened.
Nothing happened. Tendai once said that there was a difference between doing nothing and nothing happened, and doing nothing then something happened - and this occasion is exactly the latter. So nothing happened, and that was exactly the problem.
Second thing.
When walking out of the staff room the other night, I was in a completely different state of mind: not in doubt but almost certain, not just knowing but kind of understanding - and above all, I was left contemplating how unstable the most seemingly stable people could be. Had I always missed the point before, or did I just never take his words seriously enough?
When I walked into the staff room just before that on the same night, my intention was the emails I sent Ken and what they were about - but actually, we never talked over that. We did mentioned it; but on thinking back I always realize: (hm,) that wasn't the problem. Well, maybe it was, but not the one I had had on my mind when pressing that "send" button on yahoo mail.
So Quique just missed it. Or Ken missed it. Or I did, in the first place.
So what was the problem? I'm not sure if it's still important enough to be told. These days I have heard from friends everywhere around the world, and soon realized that comparing to many others' situations, mine was much better to be in. It amazed me how many times I had told this story over and over to different people; and it seemed that for virtually everyone, there would be a time - sooner or later - when they just need to hear it. So here it is, this time written down, for YOU. Maybe this is the right time for you to read. Maybe now it just goes over your mind, but at some point later, it will do its job. So...
Almost one year before, last June, I transited in Miami for two hours before flying to Dallas. Two hours wasn't a redundant amount of time, considering that there were many things to be done: checking in to the US, switching to the domestic line, getting and re-checking my luggages, and getting to the right gate at the right terminal. I was, however, stopped at the check in counter and asked to wait in a room with some other people (later on, I found out that a Vietnamese guy with the same last name Nguyen had lost his passport). Time just passed by, the waiting seemed to be forever, and the officers weren't seem to be doing anything in spite of my keeping reminding them that my next flight would take off soon... and not until there was only 30 minutes left had a black officer gestured me to his office.
"What's the problem, sir?" I asked him after sitting down.
"There's no problem." - he answered.
"There's no problem? But..."
"There's only a situation, like all other situations we're working on."
I was really perplexed, so he went on, "look, young people's problem is that they see everything as problems. You have to understand that there are different situations in life; and when something happens, you're just in a situation. A problem is intimidating and hard and pessimistic, a situation is not - and sometimes the difference is just your own attitude towards what happens. So, do you want to rephrase your question now?"
He talked so fast that it took me some seconds to really digest what he was saying, after which I said skeptically: "So... what's the situation, sir?"
He picked up my passport from the drawer, and started to explain. It was about 25 minutes to the flight.
(FYI, I did missed that flight. I got free dinner, hotel, and breakfast, and was still on time for the flight after that since I would have to lay over in Dallas for 14 hours, according to the initial plan. That whole trip from Costa Rica, to Miami, to Dallas, to Toukyou, to HCMC, was just crazy. Believe me, this incident was just one of many things happened.)
"You hurt me every time you say that, because it means you don't value me as a friend. And friends should bother each other!" So he said in reply to my saying that I shouldn't have bothered him. I immediately wanted to say "You never bothered me." Don't get me wrong though, I had no doubt about the sincerity of his words or his intention behind them - which was the reason why I chose not to say that. They were just words, after all.
Unregistered user # Friday, May 2, 2008 2:44:05 AM