Ad Infinitum

On my way to lunch this afternoon, I was approached by this girl from a TV channel. She asked if I was willing to be interviewed for their New Year’s special.

What should I do, I asked. You only need to answer a few questions, like what books you read last year, she said. But all the books I read last year were English. None was Chinese, I told her. Oh! Have you read Cat in the Bag, then? You can talk about it, she said excitedly. No, I replied. It’s OK. You can just say a few lines of New Year’s wishes, she offered hopefully. Sorry but I am quite shy about being on TV, I said at last.

I wondered later why I didn’t just tell her from the start that I wasn’t going to do it.

And the truthful reason wasn’t so much about my fear of being on TV but more because there’s no way I was going to appear on TV looking like someone who had the mumps and edema twice magnified.Yes, I am vain that way. No, my inferiority complex and low self-esteem work like that.

On a totally unrelated note, I can’t wait for winter to be over because I smell unwashed hair everywhere I go. I’m starting to have breathing problems.