Something funny happened when I was browsing the Buddhist magazines at Borders today. A man came to the same section I was standing at, arriving with a loud burp, followed by an ‘Excuse me’ at a lower volume. Okay…. no problem of course… though burps actually can be stifled instead of let out loud. I didn’t react to the burp. A few seconds later, he gave another loud burp, followed by a similar ‘Excuse me’. I leaned over a little and ‘replied’ in a volume similar to his, ‘Okay.’ Of course it’s still okay to me – but is it okay for him?
Why repeat the same mistake that he already knew could be perceived as discourteous, especially within such a short time gap? Was the first ‘Excuse me’ sincere? If it was, why the need for another ‘Excuse me’ so soon? Were the ‘Excuse me’s’ to excuse his own mistakes or to ask others to be excused with some sense of repentance? Seems less likely to be the latter.
He then started humming the first seven notes of ‘Mary had a little lamb’ – Ma-ry-had-a-lit-tle-lamb’. For fun, I hummed the next six notes at a volume similar to his – ‘lit-tle-lamb-lit-tle-lamb’. What the hell was I doing? Just reflecting his ways a little – for his possible reflection. Maybe I should had faked a burp and asked to be excused too – thrice instead of twice! Who’s more ‘eccentric’? The one who seems eccentric or the one reflecting it for a ‘good’ (and fun) cause, or the ones who don’t do anything at all? I wished I had his email to send these reflections to!