FROM THE EDITOR [APRIL 19th 2005]

I am living just behind the new Semanggi mall. In the first weeks of operation only Starbucks and the Giant supermarket were open and almost every day I watched the many skillsman passing by, that were working on the hundreds of shops inside. Enjoying my Starbucks coffee I noticed this young Indonesian guy, just out of high school, sitting on the opposite corridor taking notes. Probably his first job. For a few days in a row he always nodded in a malu manner, but I couldn’t figure out what he was doing. It was bothering me. So at a certain point –while this guy was staring at me as usual, studying a ‘bule in the morning’ who tried to recover from another night in BuGils–I had to find out of why he was taking notes. I put down my mug of coffee on the table, pushed my chair back and walked up to him. The guy was so shocked seeing me coming in his direction in resolute steps, he quickly got up, looked left and right–as if he was looking for help–and pushed his writing pad close to his chest and opened his eyes wide open. “Lagi apain? (What are you doing?)”, I asked him. Again he looked left and right for help but then stumbled “Maaf Mister, I am taking notes of the persons visiting the mall.” He offered me a look at his papers. It was indeed a paper that had to give a profile of visitors. It was 10 o’clock in the morning and so far 99 out of 100 visitors were males wearing sandals. There was one not wearing sandals and that must have been me. The rest –of course- were only the workers, as the mall was still in full construction! What was the management planning to do with this profile? Maybe trying to impress Ace Hardware? Or did they want more sandal shops to come in? Whatever it was, I told the boy to tell his boss that it was useless at this point. Of course, it was not my business but for me it was another annoying example of uselessness. I went back to my coffee. The shocked boy slowly slides to ground again, up the corridor, his eyes still wide open. I nodded again friendly, but now he just stared at me. More workers with tools came in, but he just stared… the next day the boy was gone.

Now, weeks later – I already forgot about the survey- the guy was suddenly back again! There he was, with his tally writing pad and a big, big smile! This time he didn’t nod, he waved to me with his write pad! I just had to laugh! I dunno what happened, but I think he did tell his boss it was useless at that time. Maybe he was complimented for his input. The mall by now was in full swing and by now the survey was justified I guess.  

Coming to BuGils later that day, I sat down and ordered a beer. “It’s a sad man who drinks alone,” says the beer coaster. In many places many people drink alone and a lot of them must have become even sadder reading these words. Maybe even suicidal! I can see lonely people even feeling more sad, almost crying, trying to look for other beer coasters and turn ‘the sad one’ upside down.  

The beer company, that holy institution, is telling me that I am a sad man! I feel like the boy in the mall; sad, useless. I ask for another coaster. It read “Stranger plus Bintang equal Friends” and another one:  ‘Friday is not Friday without friends’!  What is going on here!? I must be the biggest loser in the world! I actually went to Bintang’s office and asked them what the idea was behind the message. “We are aware of it. We are taking the coasters out of the market”, they said. That there is still a reading on the bottle that says “Best Served with Friends,” is fine for us, lonely drinkers. After a few beers we can’t read the small letters anyway. In the name of all lonely people I thank them. We will not kill ourselves. Another mission accomplished. Amen. 
≡ Bartele