happy birthday

I turned 27 today.

Am seriously happy. And delirious. And extremely hung over..

shut up and let me go

A few days ago, I was doing a flight to Denpasar. It was a full flight consisting of 80% Caucasians and the rest Indonesians.

About an hour into the flight, this Australian guy with a family of four calls chimes me and I go over to his seat and he points at something in front of him, "Look", he says. And guess what?

It's a grasshopper! A big one! It's brown in colour and for some reason, it looked like a cockroach which made the hair on my arms stand on its ends. And as we watched it, the grasshopper crawled and wedged itself between the seats of the row in front of this Australian guy whose children were very curious at their new friend. And the Australian guy kept looking at me, expecting me to do something about it and from the looks in his eyes, it was needless to say that he had a fear of insects cos believe it or not he was squirming in his seat and he kept telling his kids to sit still and not touch it.

At that point I was thinking to myself, does this guy expect me to touch it? Now, don't get me wrong. I'm okay with most creepy crawlies. Okay as long as they don't come near me or I don't have to touch them so this particular situation was in violation of both my principles. I dashed to the front and asked my female crew "Are you in any way afraid of insects?" All she did was look at me and I knew the answer. "Forget it" I told her. Grabbing a cup and some serviettes, I went back to the seat, psyching myself for a showdown. Told myself to not embarass myself and to be a man and just be brave about it. Believe it or not, I was ready to catch the damn thing.

And then God smiled on me. The Indonesian guy who was sitting in front of the Australian with his family asked me what was happening and I explained to him. He told me not to worry and he got up, did a quick lookabout around his seat and in one single movement, had the grasshopper in his hand!!

I told him to place it into a plastic bag to which I punctured some holes in. As much as I do not enjoy looking or touching insects, I am still pretty humane. I thanked the Indonesian guy profusely, even the Australian guy was all smiles and kept patting the Indonesian guy on his back.

Later, Mr Australia comes up to me and shares with me that very little in this world can freak him out. But anything more than 4 legs and his entire world goes upside down. I lean closer to him and say, "Don't tell anyone, but I have the same issues" To which he laughs.

And there we were. Two grown men. Laughing about the one thing that scares us. Small tiny insects with many legs. Ugh.. And I know we are not alone. In my family itself, there are so many of us who are terifficed of insects. And I know many friends who have the same phobias. What is it about these tiny marvels of nature that bring out the fear in us?

As for the grasshopper? We set him free once we landed in Denpasar. We being the Indonesian guy and me. Me more as an observer and he the actual freedom setter ;)