Pee-lot Pen

Two incidents that happened when I was young still flash through my mind often.

The first happened when I was in Standard Five.

We had the usual Physical Education class one day. All of us in the class were paired to do a routine. It was supposed to be a boy-boy or girl-girl do, but I was left as the odd boy out and another girl, the odd girl out. The PE teacher didn't think much of the oddity and instructed us to pair up. Because it involved holding hands, there was reluctance on the part of both of us to proceed. You know lah, boys and girls at that age!

This prompted HH, one of the louder boys in my class, to throw some potshots at us. What happened next was my nightmare! He was hauled up and given a stroke of the rattan by the teacher on the spot. I felt so bad about it!

Incident No 2: This happened during one of our Remove Class days. I had a "prized" Pilot pen which some classmates liked to borrow because it was great for writing. (I had painstakingly modified and polished the nib to make writing with it smooth as silk!) To my horror, I couldn't find it. The first thing I did was to report the loss to the teacher of the class, "sir, I have lost my "pee-lot" pen.

"What? Pee-lot pen? What's that?

I explained a little.

"Oh, I see; your Pilot pen! Who has taken it?" He asked the class.

CP immediately owned up.

"Did he tell you?"

"No sir."

"Next time please ask permission from your friend!"

End of the episode.

But that was the most stupid embarrassment I have caused CP! On recollection, he did ask me and I had totally forgotten!

To be wrongly accused must be quite traumatic to CP, given the fact that it had come from a classmate since primary school.

Silly me!

* * *

All of us got reconnected recently. I asked HH and CP about the respective incident. Both said they couldn't remember! But they remain so fresh in my mind.