A DINNER TO REMEMBER

MDB, a colleague of mine, asked me go to a dinner where he is scheduled to give a speech. Since I got nothing better to do on a Saturday night,(that's right) I agreed. (I want to stress one thing here. I don't do dinner function. I hate to dress up!) .

The dinner started great. Lots of good food, and I got to seat next to a pleasant looking lady with her charming girlfriend. Things are going well. I thought.

A few minutes gone by.I glanced to the other table, saw 2 batik wearing gentleman folding their arms and stared at their shoes, their spouses fidgeting in their seats . 5 minutes. I looked at the table across, a `dressed to kill' lady is busy playing with her shining gold bangles, showing it off to the blonde hair Malay lady next to her. Must be a Datin, I thought.

10 minutes. I noticed that the guests at next table started to look like zombie's from the Night of the Living Dead, eyes staring blankly at the flower decoration in the middle. 15 minutes had gone. MDB is still rambling about something. Strained my neck and looked at the 3 tables at the end of the hall. All of them `bukak kedai kopi', laughing and giggling softly, but loud enough to be heard.

Smiled again at the lady next to me. She did not response, and I noticed she kept on sending small signals to her friend.

Right then I realized something. No one was actually listening to MDB's speech and were doing their own things to make times fly. Including me. By observing other guests. This is one boring dinner and one long boring speech.

I cant wait anymore. Mumbled an excuse to the ladies, straightened my shirt and left the function. Colleague or no colleague. Felt a surge of relief once I got out from the function hall.

The next day, received a phone call from MDB. " Akula, where were you? I searched all over for you after my speech." I replied without hesitation. "DUDE, YOUR SPEECH REALLY SUCKS!"