Familiarity breeds contempt

My all-time favourite Christian writer CS Lewis said this before: Familiarity breeds contempt.

NP has a habit of warning/begging me before gatherings with friends that both of us are going to attend: Can you please be nice to me or not? Always make snide remarks at me and behaving badly. Don't lar, can or not?

I always said yes, but always fail to do it. It is that familiarity-bred contempt. My all-time favourite christian writer CS Lewis said so. NP, sorry!

Not just NP, I have my fair share of that familiarity-bred contempt from long-time friends and they have their share from me. Of cos, I am the evil one.

I had lunch with K. I was obviously not in my best behaviour.

"Oii, why don't you get a sports car. You're richer than me," I said.

"Don't want lar. I have to pay a few times ERPs driving to work," K said.

"Just go to the office before 7am. You like to do that what. Go to the office early, send emails to your colleagues to scare them." I said. It was a snide remark, though friendly, still snide.

"......" poor K said.

(Anyways, a side note on this K. I asked him the "what qualities do you want God to give you?" question. He said, "Smarter. I want to be smarter. Top 3 percentile." Walau, one up against Mr Scarlet Hotel who only wants to be smart. K wins.)

He had his revenge.

"Wow. You want to buy a sports car as your first car?!" He gave me this "are you an idiot" look.

Then at esplanade library, he had more. We went to a reading area outside the piano practice room. Someone was playing Beethoven's Fur Elise in the practice room. Because it was not sound-proof, we could hear her playing distinctly outside the room.

We both looked at the girl playing the piano, with different thoughts occupying our minds. Then K spoke, "Next time I come here cannot find seat, I will ask you to go in there and play the piano, I am sure these people will leave."

"Oiiii....I am your friend lei!!!!! I play better than that girl. She makes a mistake every two bars. walau!!!!"

"Oh. I heard Fur Elise's very easy to play. Is that so?" K said.

"......" I said.

Friends who are not that familiar with you tolerate your flaws silently.

I was at DG today. I was bored waiting for the DG to start. So I took from the table a Learning Kit that my DG leader has bought for his two year-old son. I motioned to two of my DG mates - one of them whom I met twice before she left for New Zealand one year ago and now she is back for a short break.

"Hey, let us learn something from this learning kit."

They looked at each other and then me and then looked at each other again.

I took out one piece of cardboard that said "Yellow" and took out another one that had a picture of a "sunflower."

"Yellow. Say yellow." I said. The two DG mates looked at me with straight faces. They didn't say yellow after me. They looked at each other. Then they looked at me.

I held up the sunflower picture card beside the "yellow" card and said," Yellow, yellow Sunflower. Sunflowers are yellow. Yellow sunflower."

No responses. They actually looked a little sad at that point.

Then I took out another pair of cardboards - six and a picture of six kites.

"Ok, now Six. This is the number six and this is a picture of kites."

No responses.

I tried harder.

"So if someone asks you to go fly kite, you go to marina bay and fly SIX kites. Six...KITES...."

They looked at each other and laughed. But, I know their secret thoughts.

Secret thoughts of DG mate A: "I think I better change DG. Can't learn much about JC with a weirdo around. Plus, she needs a lot of prayers. Very tough."

Secret thoughts of DG mate B: "I think I'd be better off talking to a sheep. I am going back soon. Lucky me. Sheep to talk to."

Familiar friends would just think them aloud. Am I lucky to have close friends or what? And likewise for them.

Remember, yellow is for sunflowers and six is for six kites. For those who has benefited from reading my blog educational wise, buy me a drink next time you see me. Thank you thank you.