Tuesday 9 July 2013

A Moment Of Spoonerism


The lecturer is talking too fast, I think. Or maybe my world has slowed down, due to boredom, and I can’t keep up with him. That’s why I keep missing what he says. I now have to copy notes from my neighbor and friend, B. I am daydreaming about the book I am reading as I copy the notes.

It’s a Mills and Boons. I’ve just reached the point where the hero and the heroine have been left alone for the first time. There’s lots of heat and chemistry and attraction and passion. The hero was making a move and….

My thoughts are stopped on their tracks by a word that is unlikely to be part of the notes on the emergence of Sociology. I can feel myself frowning, trying to make sense of the word. And then I feel a slightly cheeky smile creeping to my lips. I turn to B.

“What’s this?” I ask, tapping the word on his book.

B, the geek who never misses class, is too engrossed in what the lecturer is saying to hear my whisper. I ask him the question again, this time a bit louder. He seems startled to hear my voice. It was as though he was in a sort of meditation and the lecturer’s words were his mantra. B looked at the place I was pointing at and read the word on his book.

‘…like a biological science, Sociology began looking at society as an orgasm with interdependent parts which are functionality integrated.’

I didn’t have to look at him to know that he was blushing and trying to even his breath. He apologizes and doesn’t stop doing so for another 30 seconds-, which can be pretty long if you think whatever is happening is a waste of time-, which amuses me even more. I make the situation more awkward by asking what orgasms we’d be studying in Sociology. I giggled but B looked forward and went back to focusing on his mantra. That meant that that discussion was over and never to be spoken of again.

B has always been shyer than I, and he was never too comfortable with talking about sex. I have been his friend for years now and he’s never told me about girls or his escapades. Maybe he just hasn’t explored that part of his life or maybe he’s gay. Maybe he likes me thus can’t tell me about other girls.

The reasons why we haven’t talked about sex don’t bother me too much. All I wonder is, how much time does a young adult think about sex in a day? Does sex consume a part of our minds consciously and subconsciously? Maybe B was thinking about it when he was listening to the lecturer…or not. Heck, I was living the Mills and Boons scene in my mind! So what are my fellow classmates, aged between 18 and 25 thinking about?

 PS This was inspired by my friend M, in Sociology class. Thank.