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If you guys read my previous post, you probably remember that just recently I was busy with a project. Actually right now, I am in the state of enjoying the end of that project's frenzy. I am vacationing my thinking and emotional organs and in the middle of considering taking a week off. Now, let's go back to Saturday.

Saturday morning, the same like you guys, I also watched the news about our police trying to capture the number 1 terrorist in Indonesia. I knew about the whole drama quite later than perhaps most of you. Although I was quite confused on why it took 18 hours to get 1 guy, I was glad they got him anyway. It's like... it's about time!

Then, the second news shocked me more when I learned that the police seized a hundred something kilos of bomb from Jatiasih. Jatiasih? It's like our front yard!
You see, Jatiasih is really near to my house. My parents also live in one part of Jatiasih. And the fact that those people were planning to do Mr. President's house is very terrifying to me. My son goes to the school which is in the same compound as Mr. President's house! I don't care how many soldiers they have put at my son's school. I won't be able to sleep well until the police catch them all! So it won't be difficult to guess my reaction when I learned that the police were able to kill two suspects and capture one.

Saturday evening. The news evolved. Now, the media told us the police caught the wrong guy in Temanggung. He is not the famous Mr. N. He is just Mr. N's accomplice. Soon enough the cheering became sneering. Suddenly, the police's success of uncovering some bomb plots went sour. Nobody cares about the other people captured. And it just doesn't make sense to me. Are they not terrorist enough?! It's like Mr. N or not Mr. N. Even Mr. N's accomplice is not enough for appreciation. What?! An accomplice captured doesn't need a tap on the shoulder and a well-done note?

Just a couple of days before Saturday I also experienced the same thing. Remember the project at my office I was talking about? Remember the hardwork I told you my friends and I had done for the project? Nevertheless, the result was not satisfying due to reasons we didn't quite comprehend yet. The evening before the D day, the most important person in the whole organization told us in the face that WE simply hadn't done our best for the project. Suddenly all of our hardwork was unimportant.

So, guys, how do you usually appreciate other people's work?
Do you appreciate the work only if the result satisfies you? Or do you appreciate the work done well regardless of the result?
Are you one of those people who fancy saying, "I know you have done your best, but your best is not good enough?"
Let me ask you, what is best? Whose standard do you use to define the word best?
I would love to hear that the guy captured Temanggung is really Mr. N as much as you would. However, I appreciate all the hardwork done by the authorities, Mr. N or not Mr. N as long as he is indeed a terrorist. Who are we to judge the police haven't done their best? Unless we have tried to do their job before...

Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem. -Woody Allen

I found this saying above by Woody Allen a few months back and I giggled. I liked what he said and couldn't help myself agree with him. At that time, I didn't realize I would meet a situation so true like the saying.

Just a few days ago, the staff and I were in the middle of a panicky-and-chaotic situation. We were going to hold a big event, but something went unexpectedly wrong: nobody seemed to be interested in signing up. The staff were having butterflies in their stomach. I didn't have butterflies. I had bees.

To tell you the truth, the event was actually not our project. We were not even a committee. At least, I know I wasn't. Our name was not on any paper or proposal, except for flyers (*blaming the boss*). The event suddenly became our project only because it was held in our office. What a nice modus operandi! We became so emotionally-physically-mentally attached to the event because of our feeling of responsibility. If things screwed up, our office would take the blame. Nobody out there would even bother to read the proposal to find out who is the committee and who is not. So, there we were. Doing the job of other people. Couldn't even complain about it.

It was rather funny (in a sillier way) actually when I remember how confident most of us were in the beginning. And one person was even more confident than the rest of us. He-who-must-not-be-named was everything but humble. He thought he had orchestrated a very beautiful symphony with players eager to do what he commanded. He was so proud about it and couldn't let us have peace without him telling us how great his performance was. I was bored to death but people say murder is a crime so I restrained myself from the urge to kill him. Trust me, I was that close.

Then things started to fall apart. He found himself confronted with the ugly situation. He understood... and soon enough his confidence dropped.

I learned something about people that very second. When people are confronted with an ugly situation, they usually would react in two predictable ways: blame others or deny. He-who-must-not-be-named was rather outstanding. He did both: He blamed others for not playing the role he put upon them and then denied that there was a problem. Rather contradictory, don't you think?

At the end of the day, I think we have to do it the other way around. Instead of being confident at first and comprehending later, we might want to understand all the facts first then build our confidence step by step. It is a safer journey.

Sewaktu harga bensin naik di tahun 2007, efeknya langsung terasa di kehidupan rumah tangga kami. Begini lah nasib pegawai tanggung. Harga bensin naik sedikit, menu makanan di rumah langsung berubah drastis. Bila sebelumnya masih mampu bawa mobil ke kantor setiap hari tanpa berkeluh kesah, setelah harga bensin naik saya mulai menjadwalkan naik bis beberapa hari dalam seminggu demi kesehatan jantung dan terpeliharanya amalan dari dosa keluh kesah. Semua jalan pengetatan bujet dilakukan demi terselenggaranya kehidupan rumah tangga yang bebas hutang dan jauh dari kebangkrutan.
Tapi kok kenaikan harga bensin sepertinya hanya berpengaruh pada kami? Serius ini! Bukan karena kami terlalu sensitip. Lah, pemandangan di jalan raya saja seperti menyetujui asumsi kami. Mobil-mobil mewah tetap berseliweran dan jumlahnya malah rasanya semakin banyak.

Logikanya nih, kalau sudah mampu beli mobil mewah, bensin pasti sudah tidak lagi menjadi faktor penting dalam pembukuan keuangan rumah tangga kan? Setidaknya begitu itu rumusannya menurut teori brand image. Untuk orang-orang ini, bensin pasti lah masuk ke bagian paling dasar dari piramidnya Maslow, bergabung dengan kebutuhan dasar lainnya seperti sandang, pangan, dan papan (dan mungkin koneksi internet). Sementara itu, posisi orang-orang ini di piramid Maslow pasti sudah ada di paling atas: yang dicari sudah self-actualization, bukan duit recehan untuk bayar bensin seperti saya.

Setuju?

Pada suatu siang yang panas, saya sedang bersenda gurau dengan teman-teman. Obrolan terhangat di siang panas itu adalah fesbuk.
Udah nge-add siapa, lu?
Di add siapa, lu?
Si bos elu add gak?
Nggak dong. Sori ye.
Udah di remove sama sapa, lu?
Ouch!
Di tengah hangatnya topik fesbuk, seorang teman lalu mengeluarkan Blackberrynya. Siang di hari itu Blackberry masih jarang dimiliki orang. Mengeluarkan Blackberry di masanya belum jaman jelas menandakan keunggulan ekonomi yang berbuntut pada keunggulan self-image. Sialnya, kami saya malah membenarkan keunggulan si teman dengan komentar yang agak norak,
"Wih!"
"Cieee!"
"Aw!"
"Busyet!"
"Punya lo?"
(Pertanyaan terakhir -bukan milik saya- dijawab dengan dampratan pemilik)
Kami, eh, saya yang segera tersadar dengan kenorakan tadi segera mengubah strategi dengan pura-pura bertanya tentang fasilitas Bbnya.
"Bisa email ya?"
"Bisa fesbukan?"
"Bisa internetan?"
Ternyata pertanyaannya tetep norak.
Si teman pemilik Bb mulai beraksi menjelaskan kecanggihan gadget baru itu. Kalimat pamungkas dari dia adalah, "kerja jadi efisien. Udah kayak kantor berjalan. Gue gak perlu buka-buka laptop lagi. Semua bisa gue kerjain dari sini. Nelpon, ngimel, sampe maen fesbuk! Hehehe..."
Kami manggut-manggut.
Begini memang seharusnya tampilan manusia sukses. Gadget kecil aja bisa bikin kerja efisien. Apa gak tiap bulan dapat promosi jabatan dia?!

Selagi kami melanjutkan obrolan yang masih berkutat pada fesbuk dan Bb, suara telpon terdengar berdering. Semua orang spontan mencari henponnya masing-masing. Ternyata suara itu bersumber dari tas si pemilik Bb.
Teman saya itu mengeluarkan henponnya. Henpon cdma kecil. Dia segera sibuk menjawab telpon yang ternyata dari kantornya. Semenit kemudian, dia selesai bicara dan mendapati kami sedang menatapnya.
"Kenapa?" tanyanya polos.
"Kata lo Blackberry bisa dipake nelpon..." tanya teman saya yang satu juga dengan polos.
"Emang bisa. Terus?" tanya si pemilik Bb lagi.
"Bukannya lebih efisien kalo elu make Bb buat semua-mua termasuk nelpon?"
"Ooooh... ya, emang," kata si pemilik Bb dengan santai. "Tapi kan pulsanya lebih murah kalo gue pake telpon yang cdma."
"Huahahahahahahaaaaa..."
Spontan saya tertawa ngakak.

Pesan moral kali ini:
1. Tahan tawa anda bila anda berada dalam kondisi seperti saya, kalau anda masih ingin dianggap teman. Akibat tawa spontan saya, sampai hari ini, si teman masih ngambek sama saya.
2. Terkadang, teori -secanggih apapun- pasti ada deviasinya.
3. Berlaku hemat (baca: sesuai isi kantong) katanya sebagian dari iman. Saya sendiri masih harus mengulang-ulang kalimat ini supaya nyantol di perbuatan saya.

A friend gave my name to SUN TV station when the station was looking for a female figure with certain profiles to be interviewed for their woman program, Aksen. He meant it as a surprise but it was soon discovered that he was no good in keeping secrets. Soon, he informed me about it and the first thing I did was... laughing. Laughing like when you hear something really funny and your first reaction is 'Aw! Get outta here!'

A few weeks after, he called me when I was on my way home from work. Between talking and giggling (you'll never know if a male creature can giggle like he does), he told me somebody from the tv station would call me later. I laughed (again) and said OK. What could they possibly want from me anyway? And then, long story short, they did call. Long story short, I found myself doing an interview for them...

During the filming (being interviewed, walking here and there, posing like this and that), I was grinning all the time. I almost failed to hide my laughs. If I were fair-skinned, I was sure my cheeks were glowing red. And there were my colleagues, other employees, people I didn't know. Oooh, it would take a year to make them forget about it. For me, it was like... 'GOSH, now I know I wasn't born for this'. No wonder life made me a teacher and not an actress, no matter what some experts said that teaching is 90% acting and 10% skills.

Then, the program was aired on Sunday, 28 June, at 4 PM. Just in case you ask, I didn't record the program, but Papap took some pictures (of the tv monitor!). From now on, I will give some respects to those actors who can do things in front of the camera without even a little urge to grin.

Gara-gara mengalami susahnya nyari parkir di UI Salemba, siang tadi saya membujuk teman saya si Je untuk mengojeki saya ke Salemba. Sebelumnya saya pernah ditolak dia juga. Katanya, "Naik taksi dong, Dep. Jangan sok susah deh." Tadi siang, saya ditolak lagi sama dia. Dari yang beralasan harus meeting di kantor pusat lah, lalu baru sampe kantor lah, trus harus ngerjain ini itu lah. Kalau bukan karena saya butuh motornya, sudah saya *tuuuuuuut* dia!

Berbekal rasa tak tahu malu, saya kembali memaksa dia mengojeki saya saat saya bertemu dia di kantin pas makan siang tadi. Tentu saja dia sok nolak lagi.
"Gile lu, gue baru sampe kantor nih!"
"Ntar gue dicariin!" (sapa sih yang mau nyariin elu, Je?)
"Gue harus ngerjain sesuatu."
Tentu saja saya tetap bersikap tak tahu malu. Terus memaksa. (Ha!)
Akhirnya, dia menyerah juga.
"Sekarang ya?!"
"Sekarang jam makan siang. Disono juga tutup kalee!"
"Elu tuh emang paling-paling deh! Udah minta tolong tapi pake minta syarat lagi!"
Dia cuma bisa menggerutu.

Setelah dia selesai makan -dan saya BELUM-, dia bilang dia akan menunggu saya di lobi. Saya selesai makan setengah jam kemudian...
Setengah jam kemudian, saya berlari ke ruangan saya di lantai 4 untuk mengambil perabotan lenong yang mau dibawa. Sambil berjalan turun tangga (lagi), saya menelpon dia.
"Ya udah, gue turun," katanya singkat.
Eh, ternyata perabotan saya ketinggalan satu. Saya balik naik lagi ke lantai 4.
Dari kaca-kaca gedung, saya bisa lihat teman saya ini sudah sampai di lapangan parkir. Saya juga lihat dia berjalan menuju parkiran motor yang berseberangan dengan pintu lobi.

Sesampainya saya di parkiran, dia berteriak-teriak sambil berjalan cepat menuju saya. Di tangannya ada kunci motor.
"Dep! Dep! Motor gue.... ilang! Motor gue.... ilang!"
Beberapa karyawan menjadi saksi kepanikannya.
"Apaan sih, lu?"
"Gue pikir motor gue ilang!"
"Hah?"
"Gue kan gak bawa motor hari ini!"
"Jadi motor elu ilang atau apa sih?"
"Gue tadi ke parkiran. Gue nyariin motor gue kok gak ada. Gue pikir motor gue ilang."
"Jadi motor elu ilang?"
"Gak! Hari ini gue gak bawa motor! Huahahahaha..."
Pemirsa, kalo ada orang yang bisa menertawakan ke*tuuuut*an sendiri, Je lah orangnya.
"Naek mobil lo aja deh!"
"Emangnya elu bisa markirin?!" semprot saya. "Gue ngajak elu karena butuh motor lu!"
"Emangnya parkir butuh skills sendiri ya?" semprot dia balik.
"Dodol! Elu kan gak bisa nyupir! Ntar kalo gue kudu turun, mobil gue mo ditaro mana?!"
"Ya udah, kita naek bajaj aja!"
Sambil ketawa-tawa dia ngajak saya naik ojek. Saya mengikuti dia sambil mikir. Kayaknya ada yang aneh nih.

Sebelum dia sempat memanggil bajaj, saya memberi pengakuan.
"Je, gue gak bisa nawar. Elu aja yang nawar ya!"
"Elu tuh ibu-ibu gak bisa nawar!"
"Sembarangan lu ngomong gue ibu-ibu!"
"Nih, lu liat orang Arab nawar."
Kayak penting banget gitu nunjukin ras pas kondisi begitu?!

Hebatnya, dia berhasil menawar si tukang bajaj untuk mengantar kita ke Salemba dari kantor di Pramuka seharga 8000 saja! Laen kali gue bawa ke tukang sayur gue ya, Je!
Di dalam bajaj saya masih berasa ada yang aneh.
"Elu tadi naek apa ke kantor?"
"Jalan. Eh, elu lama gak entar?"
"Gak," jawab saya.
Si Je menyolek tukang bajaj, "Bang, entar tungguin kita ya. Kita cuma bentar."
Si abang ngangguk aja.
"Je, si bajaj mau dibawa masuk?"
"Iya."
"Terus ini bajaj parkir dimana pas gue turun?"
"Nggg...."
"Lagian elu ngapain ikut gue ke Salemba? Gue kan cuma butuh motor lu."
"Hiahahahaha.... Bego banget ya, gue?!"
Saya gak komen.
"Terus tadi gue pake belagak nolak diajak lagi! Huahahaha...."
Saking kesiannya, saya janji padanya untuk tidak menghina dia hari ini, while I have a very good reason to do it!
"Terus motor lu ditaro mana?"
"Di kos."
"Kenapa bajaj ini gak nganter kita ke kosan elu aja terus kita naik motor?"
Wajah si Je seperti mendapat pencerahan. Singkat cerita, dia nyolek si abang lagi untuk berhenti sebelum pintu kereta api Pramuka.
"Sini aja, Bang! Ini duitnya, Bang! Berapa tadi? 8 ribu?!"
Udah gitu, pemirsa, dia juga yang bayar bajajnya! Dia yang bayar!

Singkat cerita lagi, kami berhasil mengambil motor Je dari kosannya. Sebelum jalan, dia memberi saya sepotong(!) helm yang saya gak yakin ada fungsinya selain untuk mengusir Polisi.
"Je, elu jangan jatoh ya!"
"Je, elu punya SIM kan?"
"Please, deh, Dep. Udah jalan bgini elu baru nanya SIM?!"
"Je, elu nyupirnya model supir metromini naek motor ya?"
"Je, ini kok anginnya banyak banget sih?"
Bukannya menenangkan saya, dia malah sibuk cerita. Kepalanya ditolehkan ke kiri untuk bercerita sepanjang jalan. Sepanjang jalan!!!
"Je, elu itu satu-satunya orang yang nyupir motor sambil ngobrol, tau gaaaaak?!"
Jawaban dia singkat aja.
"Dep, kalo kita sampe ke kantor dengan selamat, elu kudu beramal artinya!"
O-MY-GOD!

Je, my friend, this is my way of saying thank you. With you, a day is never ordinary. Tapi teteup, gue masih pengen idup!!!

Pesan moral saya kali ini adalah try to have an extraordinary day once in awhile. Leave your comfort zone -in my case riding a motor bike with this insanely crazy creature0 and have a blast. Don't forget your helmet, though. Safety always comes first even on the most extraordinary days.

I don't know if it's busy-ness, boredom, or simply mindless-ness (if such thing ever exists). I do know, however, it's been circulating like virus. First, Pak Dhe went MIA, then Nenek went AWOL, and finally I just couldn't find the right words to write in my blog. Gosh, it was so easy to follow their lead and just forget about this blog.

Naturally, when s**t happens, people I'm busy to find something to blame. Or someone. Or both. In my case, it's easier to blame my work load and the people behind it. I'm just a human being after all.

Lately, my work has been draining my positive energy. I have learned that I should not write anything, or even be near any writing tools (paper, notebook, notebook, tabletop...) when my positive energy level is low. I have learned, though, that kick-boxing-kind of aerobics IS the best place to be when my positive energy level needs recharging.

Then there was this day when I was so fed up with something, and then someone, and then both, but I couldn't get my trainer to give me a private kick-boxing session. Eventually I wrote 'My Life Doesn't Begin At Work' for my FB status. In no time, people gave comments. How nice.
One friend wrote '... it just ends there', which was quite amusingly catchy if I was in a different mood. Another friend put '... but it revolves there', which was also amusing but of course I would never admit that to him. I will admit, though, that my life is indeed kind of revolving around my work. And I hate that very much. I also know the only thing that can stop my work from ruining my life is to turn off my cell phone. Period.

Period?
There was this movie about a daughter who felt burdened by her father's certain expectations on her. The daughter wanted to go on with her life but she couldn't because she felt it would be like betraying her dear father. That would be what would happen if I turned off my cell phone. It would be like betraying my friends while they were in a combat field. Then I remembered what an old lady said to this miserable daughter. The old lady took the daughter's cell phone and turned it off. She then said, "sometimes what you need is simply to turn off the phone".
I don't have an old lady who can grab my phone and turn it off for me.
So, I decided to do it myself.

Message of the day: when you feel that the world gives you too much pressure, you can always turn off the phone. PHONE! Do not turn off the internet connection you use for blogging!

Indonesia katanya negara yang heterogen.
Bangsanya bangga dengan keaneka ragaman rasnya.
Slogan Bhinneka Tunggal Ika dikobar-kobarkan.
Fanatisme kesukuan ditabukan.
Sekolah-sekolah, sebagai agen pendoktrinan, mengajarkan perbedaan itu indah.

Coba lihat bagaimana sekolah -sebagai perpanjangan tangan departemen pendidikan- mengaplikasikan konsep perbedaan.
Salah satu kalimat di ujian sekolah dasar berbunyi...
Tini (entah kenapa, subyek penderita di sekolah selalu bernama Tini dan/atau Tono) pergi sekolah memakai baju...
a. Baru
b. Bagus
c. Seragam

Jawaban yang diharapkan?
Tentu C. Tini pergi sekolah memakai baju seragam.

Memangnya semua pelajar pergi sekolah harus pakai seragam?! Sepenting itu kah seragam sehingga harus dijadikan salah satu nomer dalam ujian?!

Anda bisa menebak jawaban Hikari?
petunjuk: Sekolah Hikari sekolah bermetode non konvensional.

Mereka harus gugur lagi?!

Mereka gugur lagi...