Seize the Moment

Away for a week from the comforts and sensibilities of the big city Ho Chi Minh; the boss and I decided to take a 4-day sabbatical, a time to reflect in the country side and merely to just get away. A lot of our time was spent driving around the city and finding places to rest. Almost always we would just talk about the hyperboles of life and other intricacies that come about being a mortal.

One particular day we were driving around when we decided to rest at a coffee shop located near the edge of a man-made river stream. It was a nice day and the sun was setting, Boss just got off the phone and we just started talking about life. All of a sudden I came up with an analogy for life in Vietnam, that survival is key out here. Survival, trying to best maintain today as tomorrow may never be. The modern equivalent of a survival situation in Vietnam, is the importance of a good clean toilet, you must seize the opportunity even if you think you don’t need to.

Minutes after this philosophical idea sparked in my mind, I began to have a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. The type of strangeness that every normal person experiences probably once a day, and I knew I was fucked. Panic struck as I knew that this mom and pop café probably didn’t have a bathroom that was suitable to my pampered city life. I knew I was in trouble, and I had to act quick. Briskly walking to the bathroom, I peered into the bathroom and looked around, my hopes were crushed. The bathroom did suck, it was terrible and it had the squat style toilet and a bucket and spigot for a sink. I knew I was in trouble, all the while thinking about my philosophies of life, I realized the folly of my ways in not going earlier at a cleaner restroom. I also noticed that the area had no toilet paper, and there was no way I was going to use any monetary bills or water from a bucket to clean myself satisfactorily.

Waiting and waiting for one of the workers to bring me some toilet paper, I continued to contemplate how much of an idiot I was. It was awesome. I got my toilet paper and entered the dungeon and simply smiled.

John