Karma strikes the self-righteous

I LIVE with a roommate whom I have known for almost four years. She is very clumsy. I am not saying I am 100 per cent the opposite but since there are only the two of us at home, I become the not clumsy one.

Actually, to be upfront, I think I’m pretty organised and careful — I have a schedule book, I always plan ahead and I barely — I don’t want to jinx it — drop or forget things.

My dear friend, on the other hand, does the opposites. So far, she has bought three cameras because she accidentally spilt water on them. My DSLR camera is eight years old and it never touches the water nor the floor.

I find joy in teasing her to the point where I become tired of doing that because even after numerous unpleasant incidents, her clumsiness is still going strong. My point is, I had thrown so much shade at her ... something bad had happened because of that.

Flashback to a great Monday when I decided to have lunch in a small garden outside the office, surrounded by the fake grass and chirping birds asking for a bite of my nasi goreng. Everything was normal until I decided to sit with my legs crossed on the bench to be more comfortable and put my phone on the bench in between my legs because there was no other place for it. Once I finished the meal, I rushed back to the office and only 30 seconds from the door I realised my phone was not there. My heart was literally about to drop. When I thought I had lost my phone previously, I found it in my bag. One day, me and my friend were planning to leave a school during recess. Our escape, however, failed because I thought I had left my phone in class. We went back only to learn that my phone had been in my bag the whole time. Recently I thought I had left my phone in the toilet and ran back, found nothing, checked my bag again, and voila, phone was there.

My initial reaction on Monday was to check the bag, but this time it was not there. I walked back with big steps, and felt relief when I could see a black thing, especially after realising that my My Home Turf interview recording was in it.

My roommate told me it was karma. She then reminded me that it was not the first time she saw me getting punched in the face by the K word.

I realised what she said was right and recalled one time when I was complaining about how annoying a friend was and asked to borrow his money that evening to pay for concert tickets. Shameful, I know.

So Monday taught me a lesson I am happy to pass on: Let us not be clumsy.