A world full of ironies
Allow me to seek some "serious" answers to the burning questions posed by David Wallis (The Jakarta Post, March 18: A mad, mad, mad world).
Why is it called the rush hour when traffic is actually crawling? The rush hour here might refer to the adrenalin rush that we usually suffer during every day's notorious traffic jams in Jakarta, and the consequent "disappointments".
"Abbreviated" is s relatively short word, compared to the longest word in English, "antidisestablishmentarianism (opposition to the separation of church and state).
As regards qualified doctors who never cease "practicing", I recall my dad's advice, years ago: "Whoever that killed a thousand patients is "half a doctor"; so, if you fall sick, better go to an older doctor" (who must have had "sufficient practice")!
If planes were made of black box material, it would take several days even to locate an ill-fated aircraft, and we would eternally have to wait for the real truth to be revealed after serious accidents.
Flying is comparatively safe, but, then, the food served on flights need not necessarily be so. Maybe that's the reason for calling the airport the "terminal"?
Why do we have to click onto "Start" to stop Windows 98? Even for stopping, you have to "start" somewhere. Besides, Windows can only be shut, not stopped. One, therefore, needs to "start" thinking how to "stop" the "Windows".
Though their accommodations are all stuck together, most apartment dwellers live in an island of their own, with little interaction with their neighbors. Frankly speaking, we should call these residential units "apart ments"!
What's the need for sterilizing a needle used for a lethal injection? If an unsterilized needle is used, the prisoner may perhaps survive -- as had been the experience of many patients in poor, undeveloped countries.
Mouse-flavored cat food? Good idea. But, our pet cats would be deprived of the thrill of chasing the frightened rodents!
Life has become so dull and artificial that we no longer recognize the taste of real lemons -- lemon juice is made with artificial flavoring. On the other hand, washing-up liquid companies must be using real lemons for cost advantage.
Does President Bush ever care for world opinion? Evidence, the Iraq war. Why then should he bother about the U.S. Congress being the opposite of progress? He may even be considering the "pros and cons" of renaming Congress as a "Rubber Stamp".
Shoes in Indonesia are sometimes marked K simply because the L and R (left and right) are referred to in the Indonesian language as kiri (K) and kanan (K). Fortunately, there are no three-legged human beings here -- otherwise, the shoe companies might think of marking the shoes KKN (Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism)!
This one is for Wallis -- why isn't 11 pronounced "onety one"?
D. CHANDRAMOULI, Jakarta