The Corn Tea

I love our laboratory office space. We have a seminar room, the balcony space outside for recreational curry bbq (which needs some climbing into certain window), the experimental space, the club room where all the quadcopters, uav’s and smart phone controlled balls go (not to mention the ramyan storage and beds thrown in there) and the main office where I am currently, stealthily typing these down. But with all the joy of having your own table and a nice little board to stick printed copies of Will Ferrell and Steve Carrel’s face comes a price; a price of personal freedom. Especially when the Prof’s office seat is right next to yours.

Today’s no different. 

Everybody’s busy working on stuff they are supposed to work on and the Prof’s quietly typing down emails to important people he needs to. I, on the other hand, am finding it hard to put down a book I got off the shelves of a very dusty, cramped second hand book store nearby my place run by an Ajashi (Man in Korean) who speaks no English. Yes, I could have got it from the library but the act of borrowing itself prohibits me from actually opening the book and indulging in it. Spending some of my own quid instead, makes me force brain-feed through the first few chapters and see if the book actually grows into me.

And oh my, did this book grow on me!

Unfortunately, I was now having a hard time trying to make sense of the words printed down with my Prof’s constant sneezing. At the rate of two per every minute, this was as chronic as anyone I had seen. Having now withstood a considerable amount of time listening to periodic randomness of those loud bursts of “Haaachuuu!” I decided it was finally time to do something about it.

“Do what, exactly?” my brain questioned. There was a slight possibility of me strengthening my balls and asking him not to sneeze to which I would also have to pack up my bags and book the next flight home but to be completely honest, I was basically staring at this sea of robust, impervious darkness. Much like that time when you get the honor of standing up in the class you had been busy dozing off when suddenly you have to answer a seemingly senseless question. In fact, this reminds me of a friend who got himself into a similar situation when asked to read a paragraph off our science book titled “Where does the food go?”

Characteristically, the boy’s head was in Hawaii drinking Coolamuchaha and instead of simply reading off what the damn book said, he cross-answered “Stomach?”

.....

“Ah tea!” I suddenly thought, and quickly made my way towards the water dispenser, perfected a corn tea and brought it in front of my almost sneezing professor.

“Would you like to have some tea Prof?” to which he stared at me as if I had just kicked his cat out of the window and gave an empathic “No!”

Having now to gulp on the very last of that very same tea, I can completely understand why he was wise enough not to.