Spaces at the cafeteria were all filled up. All tables, except one. I had to seat there. I was new. And the food looked nice. Plus it was both an opportunity to make new friends as I tore up my chicken. Talk about killing two birds with one stone over lunch.
"hey"
No one replied. But I wasn't waiting for a reply. I sat down. I put my laptop bag next to my seat comfortably. It was a customized Sony Vaio, I had had it imported from the company itself, it had my name inscribed on it therefore I was very gentle with it. (I miss that thing)
I arranged my salad, my fork and knife on the table. Juice on the right, I even took my napkin, undid it and placed it inside my shirt, I didnt want to soil it, plus I know how to make a statement. Besides you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Unfortunately the girl next to me wasn't.
"last night was awesome man, Sharlocks was the bomb.."
"yeah..."
Everyone around was loudly talking about past experience they shared together in the past. It is the classic strategy to make people who are not in a clique to feel out of place. They splashed confident body movements. I help but start to feel intimidated, wouldn't you to if you sat at a table where everyone was talking to each other whilst none of them has said a word to you for the for the last five minutes you've been there with them.
It was the first time I knew what it meant to be around so many people yet feeling lonelier than I feel when am alone. Not even one of the perfectly neat groomed ladies or eloquent speaking guys had attempted to talk to me. I thought I was out of place until I was the girl seated next to me to. I could at least eat with my napkin in my shirt collar holding the fork and knife, but she was so intimidated she just played with her food her body coiled as if to protect herself. Whilst the rest had food on the table, no one had touched their food except for Miss.Lonely girl and I. All else were talking more than eating. I couldn't un-eat my kuku!
And that is how I noticed there was a divide. That's how I knew I was out of place. And I couldn't believe myself, this is so westernized, are you kidding? Were they intentionally trying to make me and lonely girl feel out of place? You almost wish you were warned first.
"hey what game is that?"
I asked the fat guy in a shirt that looked like it had been worn the first time. I bet everyday the shirts he wore looked like they had been worn new for the first time. So crispy. He ignored. He actually went on talking to his friend as he pressed buttons erratically on his portable Play Station.
I guess they got hungry when they realized we were not leaving. So they finally pulled all their seats around and started to eat. The loudness of their voices was less pretentious now that they were closer to each other.
"...look at this."
"that's a lovely whip..."
And they passed the magazine all around the table. It was a strategic move to exert social stratification, it was aimed at making lonely girl and I feel unwanted cause we weren't let to see what was in the magazine. But I got a glimpse. It was a Mercedes Benz photo an E class I could tell. The stuff I see at Dt. Dobie when I drop the car there for servicing.
"you know my mom has a car like that..."
Mr.Fatso with his Play Station let us all know. Yes, it's a KBA. Saw it. Yeah, that's a nice whip. And all the other lovely ladies and gentlemen mentioned the cars there parents drove and some of them drove and what not.
Miss.Lonely girl must have been new too, just like me, cause I could see she had Orientation notebooks that I to was given when we joined. I figured maybe that's why we being excluded over here. She opened her mouth...
"So how do you guys know you are meant to take this course?"
Silence.
"hey, hey so how do you guys know you are meant to take this course?"
She asked for around three time, she was ignored. But I guess one of the girls felt they were taking it to far.
"...you just do what your heart tells you you love"
And that's when I got fed up. I dropped the knife and fork on the plate. I turned to the girl next to me. I held her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
"you don't just do what you love, you think about it too, I like kissing, I can't just apply to a university to get taught how to kiss..."
And they were all looking at me now, no iPhones, no Blackberries, no HTCs, no iMacs, no Windows Mobile, no iPods if one of them had a Kindle or knew what it was, they wouldn't be reading it, I had all their attentions...
"for example, I choose to do law cause it's about logic cause I suffer from insomnia and nightmares I wouldn't mind burning that midnight oil, all the reading it requires to me is in fact medicine, chooses to do law cause law is about relationships with other lawyers, it's about relationships with clients, it's about stories, taking real life stories and applying them to law context, and arguing...and at the end of the day it's not earning enough to buy a Mercedes Benz E class model year 1997 like the one on the magazine you just say with a 2010 number plate. That's an old pig with new lipstick applied on the face. It's about buying a Mercedes Benz E class model year 2010 with a 2010 number plate."
And I pulled her from the seat because a true lawyer doesn't leave damsels in distress in a den of lions, she hadn't completed eating but she was glad to leave. We left before they knew what was happening. Before the words sunk in.
As we walked away I could hear the laughter die down slowly, I could feel it hitting them slowly, i could feel my words sink in them painfully. It's amazing how friendships are formed. Let's go out there, let's find people to save. To me law is not so much a science or a humanity, it is humanity and an art, I love art, especially the art of how to save a life. After law school, I will come, I will see, and I will conquer.
