Uncle
A really peculiar custom among South-east Asians is calling every man from the older generation 'uncle' and every woman from the older generation 'aunty', despite the absence of a blood relation. Like, I call Arjun's father 'Sanjay Uncle', but he's not really my uncle, as such. It can be anybody, though, not just your parents' friends. It can be the guy driving the car in front of you: "Oye, uncle, would you just move your ass!", or the grocery store's cashier: "Uncle, can I have change for this ten-dirham note?", or even people you meet on the street randomly: "Aunty, I think your sari is torn.."
So this little custom was the source of much laughter today in, oddly enough, the Chemistry class. Now, something you need to know about the classroom is that the boys' entrance is in such a place that the teacher [if she's sitting at her desk] won't be able to see you until you come in, but the students facing the teacher can see the person at the door. So anyways, there was a peon at the door, trying to remove something from the wall - I think it was the A/C's control. My extremely obnoxious classmate Zubayr interrupted the teacher and said, "There's an uncle at the door." Now I get a bit annoyed when grown-ups can't let go of their childhood habit of calling a peon "an uncle", so I shot back at Zubayr, "He must be your uncle!"
Zubayr thought about the comment for some time and then said, "Yeah, he's your father so that's why he's my uncle." Uhh.. still not making sense.. my Papa isn't related to Zubayr in any way!
The teacher heard this and smiled at Zubayr patronizingly and said in a mother's voice, "Zubayr, why are you using such childish phrases like "Your father" and "My father"? You only hear first or second graders saying things like that."
I'm still chuckling over it at random moments.
In other news, I cut my left thumb in the Biology lab today. I was supposed to be slicing my chrysanthemum's petals in half, but I put the blade to my thumb and slid it over [mistakenly, I swear, I'm not emo!]. The blade was pretty new and sharp so it cut through my latex gloves and into my skin. It bled for a bit and I tried washing it, but it wouldn't stop. I even ran to the clinic wearing my lab coat and holding my cut thumb up like an injured politician, but the clinic was locked because school hadn't started and I was doing my experiment before the morning assembly.
It's all better now.
I also hurt myself with the keychain on my pencil box; I opened a pair of lab goggles my skin got caught in the framework and to top it off, I hit my head on the biology lab's glass door. Today was like Hurt Yourself Day for me.
I have a major crush on my Greek-nosed classmate Jim, [of the Jim-no-sperms fame]. I dunno what to do about it. I hate crushes on straight boys.
So this little custom was the source of much laughter today in, oddly enough, the Chemistry class. Now, something you need to know about the classroom is that the boys' entrance is in such a place that the teacher [if she's sitting at her desk] won't be able to see you until you come in, but the students facing the teacher can see the person at the door. So anyways, there was a peon at the door, trying to remove something from the wall - I think it was the A/C's control. My extremely obnoxious classmate Zubayr interrupted the teacher and said, "There's an uncle at the door." Now I get a bit annoyed when grown-ups can't let go of their childhood habit of calling a peon "an uncle", so I shot back at Zubayr, "He must be your uncle!"
Zubayr thought about the comment for some time and then said, "Yeah, he's your father so that's why he's my uncle." Uhh.. still not making sense.. my Papa isn't related to Zubayr in any way!
The teacher heard this and smiled at Zubayr patronizingly and said in a mother's voice, "Zubayr, why are you using such childish phrases like "Your father" and "My father"? You only hear first or second graders saying things like that."
I'm still chuckling over it at random moments.
In other news, I cut my left thumb in the Biology lab today. I was supposed to be slicing my chrysanthemum's petals in half, but I put the blade to my thumb and slid it over [mistakenly, I swear, I'm not emo!]. The blade was pretty new and sharp so it cut through my latex gloves and into my skin. It bled for a bit and I tried washing it, but it wouldn't stop. I even ran to the clinic wearing my lab coat and holding my cut thumb up like an injured politician, but the clinic was locked because school hadn't started and I was doing my experiment before the morning assembly.
It's all better now.
I also hurt myself with the keychain on my pencil box; I opened a pair of lab goggles my skin got caught in the framework and to top it off, I hit my head on the biology lab's glass door. Today was like Hurt Yourself Day for me.
I have a major crush on my Greek-nosed classmate Jim, [of the Jim-no-sperms fame]. I dunno what to do about it. I hate crushes on straight boys.