Ha ha, how's that for a title? Nope, didn't make it up :) The plastic wrapper holding my cinnamon sugar scone fell out of my palm and onto the ground just outside my building. The next moment, I found myself chasing it like a cat after a mouse as it rolled around the floor. At that point, it didn't seem at all funny. But in retrospect, it was a theatrical sight. And rather hilarious. It was a Thursday afternoon. I was heading back to the apartment, struggling to hold onto everything including my wallet, my lunch, some napkins, and my half-a-cup of UN-hot chocolate (ha ha, that's a different story altogether--my order wasn't even a cinnamon sugar scone!). Just as I turned the key in the lock at the gate, this lady with her 18-month-old in a stroller appeared just behind me. Out of courtesy I tried to hold the door for her. Because I did, I had to rearrange everything in my palms...and then it happened--after I closed the gate. The scone dropped out of my hands, leaving the three of us--me, the mother and her 18-month old daughter--watching helplessly as it did a somersault and a series of forward rolls on the concrete ground just outside my apartment. Strangest thing was, I wasn't very much upset. It would be a lie to say that I wasn't the least bit saddened by its loss. But the thought in my mind was simply: "Who cares? I'll just eat it anyway." And I sure did. The ground seemed rather clean and the 30-second disaster didn't leave any signs of damage or dirt on the scone. So I ate it! :) I'm in New York and food is expensive! Besides, it wasn't so great-tasting anyway, so the little incident didn't ruin any special taste it had. As for the little ordering fiasco...Well, just let me put it this way. The guy who served me was a newbie on his first day of work at this mini cafe which is situated just a few steps away from my apartment building. I asked for a current (as in raisin) scone and he wrapped a cinnamon one for me. I asked for a steamed milk (nope he didn't give me a hot chocolate because he was blur blur), he told me it was out. So I changed my order to a hot chocolate, but being unfamiliar with the machine, he gave me one with three-fifths froth and two-fifths of room-temperature chocolate drink(?) Well, I didn't want to be difficult so I took the cup and added skim milk available at the counter to top it up. I knew it the moment I held the cup though it was covered; it was super light!!
The moral of the story?? I'm sure you can come up with many! I'll leave it up to you. Just wanted to blog about something light-hearted and funny (hopefully it made you smile :)). I've had a hectic week, except for Thursday when I spent the entire day on my Macbook surfing PsycINFO, and trying to derive an earth-breaking research idea (which I did not, of course). Classes have started and I'm getting busier. Ha Ha, busy getting lost like a mouse in a maze in Teachers College (actually that's a wrong metaphor to use cos' mice always seem to get out real quick because of the biological GPS system programmed in their seemingly tiny brain matter). This happened to me twice today. On the second time, my friends and I were extremely near the destination, but we derailed and ended up elsewhere only to find no one in the seminar room because the class was actually somewhere else...that was my fault, I gave them the wrong classroom (technically, I wasn't the culprit bringing us on the unneeded tour five minutes before the seminar!). The four of us who got lost together--one African American babe, half-Mexican dude, extremely tall British stud, and me, the stereotypically-petite Asian girl--should start a FB group: "If you ever got lost in TC during your first semester or still do"
What else can I update you about? School's busy and I've been pity-partying again. Citibank drove me crazy today. I was sent on a wild goose hunt because I had problems with my bank account and my tuition fees were due today! Not going to gripe about it over here. But for those of you who aren't so crazy about Singapore and are dying to get out, be prepared for less-than-efficient services overseas. We do have high service quality standards in Singapore u'know. So appreciate it. Amidst the pity-partying, there was learned helplessness. I changed my stance midway through the craziness. I prayed, "Lord, if this is going to mold me and make a stronger, fitter and better person, please give me more trials and problems." Ha ha, call it resignation, but it just makes sense to me. Why bother myself with frustration when it doesn't help? I just formulated a theory (which I haven't tested out of course; just pure speculation now). If Prof Barbara Fredrickson from U Michigan theorized that positive emotions broaden your mind intellectually and named this the "Broadening and Building" theory, then I could come up with something complementary to her theory and name it the "Constricting and Corroding" theory.
Negative emotions like self-pity constrict and corrode intellectual thought. They erode mental resources and narrow the span of solutions one can derive. An overwhelming dose of negative emotion reduces one's rationality.
How's that for a theory? Ha ha, the editors of JPSP probably won't buy that! Hee, now is N = 1. Wait till I design an experiment. Please don't take it for real now. I just came up with it. Maybe others have done it so take their word instead of mine.
That's it folks! Gotta do my work and ace the courses! God bless.
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