The 'Laugh-at-Ann Fest' Trilogy (I)

Since my post on ‘Memories of Thomson Plaza‘, certain friends have been egging me on to share more er… embarrasing stories about myself. Actually, the reason that I haven’t done that is because I thought they’d be bored by them. But since there’s been a couple of dares/requests, I am happy to oblige. Besides, I figured it’s safer for me to tell the tale rather than risking them posting even more embarrasing versions in the comments forum.

A little background to the ‘me’ of yore before I regale you with my tales. In secondary school, I think I had a rather interesting/paradoxical persona. On one hand, I was *ahem* dignified, mature, serious (when it came to work) and responsible. But on the other hand, I was sort of a klutzy and blur clown who was ‘famous’ for my love affair with food (A-B-B-C) and who was frequently teased mercilessly by my friends. Well, I suppose I gave them plenty of reasons to make fun of me. *sigh* Here’s an example why.

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In 1994, the entire Sec 3 level had to perform a flag-twirling routine for the Sea Games (was it opening or closing?) Ceremony. Athletes who represented the school were excused, so I was spared the long hours of training under the hot afternoon sun.

One particular Friday, after another gruelling flag-twirling session, my Sec 3 class-mates went to MacDonalds at AMK for dinner. I had something on in school as well, and came by to join them later.

When I arrived, they had already finished their food. And for some reason, somebody (I forget who) decided I had arrived just in time to help them throw their trash. They started ‘consolidating’ their garbage, stacking the trays one on top of the other, and used cups as well. Somebody also joined the straws together, forming one very long, very high straw. When it was done, they passed the entire thing to me.

I made my way to the rubbish bin, being very distracted by the joined straws that were swaying dangerously before me. I emptied the trash into the bin, and just as I turned around to walk back, there was a very loud *CRASH*.

Suddenly, the tables surrounding where I was became conspicuously silent. I looked down at my hands and noticed that they were EMPTY. I had emptied EVERYTHING, including 7-8 stacked trays, into an empty rubbish bin. Fortunately or unfortunately for me, a MacDonalds staff happened to be walking past right at the moment and relieved me of retrieving the trays from the bin.

You can imagine the uproarious laughter I faced from my classmates *wry*. Somehow, this has become a classic story from my past, and one that my friends never seem to tire of revisiting.