In my life I have accidentally fool a lot of people. I say accidentally as human like to assume and hold to their assumption religiously. Well kinda like the title's namesake, but less malicious.
The first incident I could remember is in college. In college, I took Biology as my core subject. There are also Physics and Accounting. So basically, one can classify a student as biology major or physics major or economy/accounting major. In our second semester, every students are required to do a research for English class. For the research, one have to do/distribute their questionnaire. For the sample, one have to distribute the questionnaire according to the percentage of students. Overall distribution of student is roughly, 40% Biology, 40% Physics and 20% Economics. So our sample should represent these figure. Say if one group is to have 100 samples, 40 questionnaires are to be answered by Biology students, 40 for Physics and 20 questionnaires to Economics student. Finding an Economic respondent is quite hard.
So one fine day, I was sitting in the library to cool myself down. That is the only facilities on the campus with conditioned air. While waiting, I read a book on Marketing. Typical Asian students would not read something outside their scope of study. I can say, I am the unconventional one. The library is also a good place to find respondents. A few minutes after lazing myself in the library, A cute girl asked me. "Excuse me? Can you spare some time to answer our questionnaire?" I agreed. After I completed the questionnaire, I marked 'Biology' in the Major section.
Upon seeing this, the girls thought that I was pulling their leg. "I think you tick the wrong box, I assume you're an accounting student. Never mind, we'll correct it latter". Apparently, they have enough Biology and Physics respondent and need to find about 30 Economics respondent. "No, I am a Biology major. You can look into my student's ID if you are still doubtful? Science students ID starts with 'S' while Accounting starts with an 'A'. "Oh sorry, we thought you are Economics major since you are reading Marketing book." I felt sorry for them too. They have wasted 1 set of questionnaire and their time. They should have asked me earlier.
Second incident is during an Expo. It is an expo to showcase houses. As always, my arsenal when attending an expo is to dress Business casual. One house design attracted me. It's a 2 and 1/2 storey semi detached house model. With wet and dry kitchen, 2 Master bedrooms and 3 bedrooms. All with en suite bathroom. 2 rooms shared a bathroom. It's called a Jack and Jill bathroom. The house also features clerestory windows for natural lighting and ventilation. The clerestory window suits the butterfly roof. After hearing 'butterfly roof', 'clerestory window' and 'Jack and Jill bathroom', the sales rep start to react coldly. Apparently, she thought that I am an Architect, working for another architecture firm and trying to 'steal' their ideas. I wish I am an Architect... too bad I am not. My knowledge is from reading hundreds of Architecture Digest magazine, Australian House and Gardens, Better Homes and Gardens and other architecture magazine.
The third memorable incident happens in a shipyard. It was during our school trip for our Occupational Health class. First, the shipwright asked the whole class what is a shaft. I'm not that good in explaining things so I made a gesture of propellers with my fingers and cover my forearm with another hand. I meant to say, a shaft is the thing to transmit power from engine (my body) to the propeller (my finger). The shipwright misunderstood my gesture, he said "No, that's the propeller". And the he asked what is a dry dock. "It's dry... " I said. The shipwright then asked the whole class "How to keep the dock dry?"... "Cofferdam!!!" was my replied. "But that dry dock has no cofferdam, Instead the ship has to be pulled to a ramp to expose the hull". He's amazed. Then we went into a tugboat. "Ahoy!!! Can we go up the bridge. On the bridge, I pointed "Is that the sonar? Cool. What is that monitor on our starboard? So the pilot sits here, port" and my 101 questions. Then I asked the shipwright, where is the galley (kitchen), the head (toilet) and the crew's berth (bedroom). If you're into microhomes, you should see the tugboat layout. It optimizes the space. Then, the shipwright gave me a personal tour. And asked me, if my family is in shipping business. Oh I wish I am one of the Onassis family. With nice Greek nose, handsome facial features... and money to burn. "No, my family is not that rich...". After the tour, I met with some welders. I cried in exclamation " IS THAT A PLASMA CUTTER? COOL! HOW MUCH IS ONE?" That amuses my colleague and the driver. An one of the driver jokingly told the class "I think we should leave him here... Maybe in his past life, he works in a shipyard"
That is why, I value my general knowledge. You can share them with strangers. It can be used to break ice if you're talking to someone new. And exchanging ideas is fun. It is also a good tool to flirt. Well, that's how Barney Stintson flirts with girls, except his information is fake. Or kinda like Ted Mosby's modus operandi for hooking up with new girl. Except, he is boring. Wait! Am I like Ted Mosby? Nevermind. I am not into the dating pool anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_Me_If_You_Can
No comments:
Post a Comment