There were times when I was growing up in KL that I couldn't go anywhere in the city without bumping into people I know. It happened all the time. I guess KL is not big and the fact that I do know quite a few people. It could also be that we all hung out in the same places. But nowadays I can usually spend the whole day in the city by myself without seeing anybody who recognizes me or people I know.
I've been living abroad for a long time and a lot of my old friends simply don't know what I look like these days. But thanks to Facebook I get reconnected with most of them, so we all know what each other looks like in the present time, which generally follows an inevitable downward trend: receding hairline, burgeoning belly, smattering white hair, and chubby cheeks.
So there I was yesterday walking along Jalan Bukit Bintang from Jalan Tun Razak on my way to KLCC when I heard my name being shouted from one the cars stuck in the evening traffic jam. "Fido!!" I looked around and found out that it was from a guy in a black Satria in the middle lane. After dodging swarms of speeding kapchais weaving in and out of the traffic I managed to get to his car and he turned out be an old college buddy of mine whom I haven't seen in nearly ten years! It was simply mind-blowing the fact we could have met anywhere but ended up seeing each other in the midst of a gridlock.
To be sure, we reconnected on Facebook last year but never actually made plans to hang out. Plus, I was still in the US at the time and only recently came back to Malaysia. But through the wonders of Facebook he knows what I look like nowadays and without hesitation decided to call out my name when he saw me walking. In a way he's taking a chance but there is no doubt in him that it was me. Physically he hasn't changed much over the years - except for the receding hairline! - and it took me less than a nano-second to recognize who he was. I immediately hopped into his car and we went to a mamak place near my house for drinks and long reminiscing.
Gosh, I do enjoy one of these life's little surprises!
4 comments:
FB is wonderful, u get the chance to see whether your friends aged gracefully or not...
Yes, I agree and I have to say that a lot of them have aged not-too-gracefully! The curse of married life with bigger disposable income...
married life is a curse or a blessing, depends on the way you look at it
being a single guy i have no way of knowing if married life is a blessing or a curse - until i decide to take the plunge, that is. but just by looking at my friends i seriously think some of them shouldn't even be married in the first place. either they are now divorced or having serious problems with the marriage. but anyway many people use married life with kids as an excuse of not taking good care of themselves i.e. overweight, eat whatever, not exercising as regularly as they used to, work too much, etc. as the result a lot of them look older than they actually are. i see this happens to a lot of my friends but as long as they are happy (or seems like it) who am i to say it's right or wrong?
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