Everyday Musings > Surprise!

I've spent my life thinking I love surprises. Till one day it hit me. Coincidences I find interesting, chance happenings are fun and serendipitous moments are lovely. But most man-made surprises I truly dread. The Online Etymology Dictionary expresses how I see it - "unexpected attack or capture". It also adds that the term 'surprise party' was originally a military term used in the 1840s and it made its way into the social circuit in 1858. I wonder who first thought it would be a great idea to test a battle strategy on unarmed civilians.

I remember behind-the-door boo's that never seemed funny. Or the sudden cupping of eyes with a cheerful 'Guess Whoooo' or a dancing on the phone lines of someone who wanted to play 20 questions before they told me their name. Or a room full of people yelling 'surprise' as I walked in hoping for a peaceful night off. Surprises, to me, are like pianos hurtling from an upstairs balcony - they may have the potential to sound sweet but I feel it's advisable to flee.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who love surprises. Politicians surely do; they always seem to spring one or have one sprung on them just before a major election. In USA, it even has its own name, October Surprise. Oprah's audience was constantly surprised. In fact, if they weren't, they would have been surprised. Even cynics seem to like them, as this town in Arizona seems to suggest - it was named Surprise by its founder, Flora Mae Statler as she "would be surprised if the town ever amounted to much.

I don't hate all surprises though. There are some that are lovely - like a witty comment in the middle of a serious speech, bits of poetic prose in an otherwise racy novel, a compliment when I thought I looked dishevelled, charming things Su bundled in for our shared birthday, the compassionate offering of food while I was stuck in a monsoon traffic jam for hours in Mumbai, a child who once ran to hug me, a vegetable tote that a chef gifted me at a restaurant once, thoughtful gestures V brings into my day, the lovely Murakami diary Pa posted to me, and this one today. I am writing again. :)