Coach diary 2

I was reading and thoroughly enjoying I feel bad about my neck by Nora Ephron (who wrote scripts for When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle), courtesy of Ms T.

Then it got to a point where the background music started to annoy me and I wished I could turn it off. The kind and cute steward had turned it on for me when I came down to the lower deck for my dinner. There was just one other guy at the lower deck and he was punching away on this laptop. The steward didn’t turn on the music before I came down.

Anyways, I thought of turning the music off but didn’t for two reasons.
1. I can’t figure out how those black boxes work and I might just turn off the entire sound system even for the upper deck!
2. In the absence of noise (= silence), my mind would start to psychoanalyse things.

Another thing that annoyed me was that I was holding my pee. Many of you would know this is pure torture for me- having an exceptionally small bladder (this is not scientifically proven) which results in chronic toilet visits (this is easily empirically documented).

I didn’t want to use the toilet in the coach because this particular coach has a very tiny toilet. Between the door and the toilet bowl there is space enough for 1.5 of me, sideways. I think the guys can stand and pee quite comfortably but it would be a great manoeuvering act for the girls.

Some of these coaches actually do have large toilets (a chronic toilet go-er always checks out the toilet).

Some friends and I had a conversation once about coach toilets (don’t ask me how or why) and Joe said they are so tiny they might as well not have any toilets. I interjected in defence of all coaches with large(r) toilets: “No, my coach had a toilet that could fit two persons.”

The whole group burst out laughing.

Joe: And what might two persons do in the toilet together? (cheeky smile)
Josie: Nic, you are just asking for it!!

For months on end, Joe teased me about going into toilets in twosome.

That is, until he found another thing he could irritate me with. He bumped into Venky and I walking to lunch at Raffles Place greens. Joe is racist against Indians. Venky’s full name is Venkateswaran, which makes him an Indian (the cause and effect here is reversible).

Joe attributes his racism to being a Raffles Junior College alumus. “We are all racist!” he asserts. He would pinch my arm until I can spot a Punjabi and tell him the colour of the turban he is wearing (this is a Singaporean thing). I would always yell PINK!

Joe: So you would marry an Indian?
Nicole: I would marry anyone I get along with, who loves Jesus first and who would love me as Jesus would. Because I would love him the same way, by God’s grace.

He kept silent. Anyways, if he ever marries a Punjabi lady I will try my best not to tease him because I am nice.