yuen: Of Gases Molecules and Relationships

Back in my secondary school days, I studied that gases molecules moves in a random, everchangingly in a movement called as “Gerakan Brown”, according to my textbook, which is bahasa. It was first observed by a scientist named, of course, Brown, of the pattern of pollen in water, before further advancement of science later that enable human to observe similar patterns of movement in the gases atoms and molecules. Each atoms and molecules will move in a chaotic manner, without any telling of the direction that it will move later; collisions to solid matters or walls of the container or among the atoms will bring to a shift of direction.

But amidst the anarchy patterns of mobility, some atoms will move in parallel lines, abreast one another, sometimes for a short duration, sometimes for long, but all in the atomic standard, which is rapid by comparison to our own.

Thinking back to the science phenomena, which is weird because I’m bad although interested in, made me realise how similar these atoms nature are, metaphorically, to humans and their relationships. Humans, I believe, in many ways are a individualistic, single unit of atom, travelling at their own course, albeit in the same compound of other humans, or atoms, going through their life alone. It is during the parellel movement with another atom, a parallel life with another human, there existed a company, a friend, a love interest, which, like explained above, either in a short or long duration.

Human relationships are synonymous with the parallel movement, of during humans share a moment in life together;

during your secondary school days, your varsity life’s,

your first and subsequent part time jobs,

your short stint at 7-Eleven,

during your “activism” years,

during the time where you still have a LIFE before your current robotic life.

You share you time with other person(s); doing things, work and play together, during when you have something in common, when stories and secrets are shared, gossips are exchanged, of long hours of conversations about everything you can think of, when you know why your friend are not hanging out with the bunch this week and what the others will do on next week, or next month. During those times.

Humans however, are very much individualistic creatures, you do what you gotta do, sometimes you moved on, but your friends don’t,

you dad is being transferred for the umpteenth time and the whole family gotta follow-you have to make new friends again,

you changed your job when your boss saw you dumpsterin’ the leftover fried chickens-you say goodbye to your finger lickin good pretty collegues,

all of you graduated and everybody goes their respective way..

you get the idea; your life does not go along with those people that you put close to heart anymore. It does not go parallel now. You go your respective direction now.

Good times are always hard to forget, there will be various efforts to reconcile, to recover the moment, to experience it like the ways it used to feel. Thus reunion parties and such are held, where exchanges of current contact number, promises to keep in touch, along with other lip service and faux pas were part of the occasion. Pardon my pessimism, most of the time the effort failed to meet its objectives; Come on, how many times can you laugh about the incident when you played prank on the discipline teacher? Or when Sani, Ameng and Muthu go rotan-ed because of playing Pepsi Cola inside the class? Or when you guys get too drunk to even hold the guitar to perform at your first gig, during the days when you guys where still band members and before the split due to “creative” differences and other band members resoluting on “quitting the scene”?

Don’t you get tired of going nostalgic over and over again, reminiscing and laughing on the same (pre)historical events?

After all the laughing stops all of you go back to your respective lives, if any.

It is not all bad though, friends do get rebonded but most of the times, it requires extra efforts, sacrifices should be made for a friendships or any relationship that you hold dear to. I used to get hooked at The Sim’s game- in some aspects it is very silmilar to our lives, of our neverending needs and wants, obligations, doing the same thing everyday in maintaining our so called “life”; eat, sleep, shit, shower, sleep, watch tv, build a bigger house, sex (no, they don’t have that in the game). In the mentioned PC game you are supposed to maintain good relationship with your family members and make a few friends, which will help you in your career advancement.

The game thought me that friendships has to maintained, you have to always put effort on it; chat, chew on some fat, joke, buy them a beer. You will simply lost a friend if you don’t (literally in the game, but very close to literal in real life if you abandon your friends, think about it.). The longer you do not keep in touch, the both parties felt like strangers, going through surfacey questions of “how you life been”s of starting back from bottom again, much like the time when both of you first met, with the awkward silences and both with the guilt of never attempting to keep in touch until the present time; when you found out that your friend is actually a long distant relative, who actually is the granddaughter of you grandmother’s step sister’s cousin.

I say, accept the fact that both of you are no longer as close as you used to, that is the fact, but it is up to you and the other side to put effort in enliving the relationship, if you really cherish it. A good friend is hard to come by, the sum of thousands of you hi’s and bye’s friends couldn’t even compare.

Of all possibilities, in the world of chaotic random atoms, the very same atoms do travel in parellel pattern for the second time. IT MAY HAPPEN.

Contact those friends that you have always wanted to, before you got the news of their death, which I have experienced myself recently, when I received the news that my primary school best friend, Vincent, has pass away from cancer. He was just 22 years old. I always had the intention to contact him, but I didn’t. Now I lost my chance.

I would like to disclaim any affiliations with any telecommunications corporation here, but I would to end this posting with a question:

When was the last time you called your close ones?

END.