Posted in A Moment in My Life

“Never to Assume”

A Moment in My Life – Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Jeannie Yee Davis

The other day, a funny thing made me realize I can’t assume everybody understands where I’m coming from. I don’t always get the joke or catch the punchline myself or even get what was said, but well, how do I know what you know until things play out?

That’s what happened to me the other day precisely. On FB, a new friend I’ll call George posted a photo of a scene from the old Chinese martial arts movie, “Five Shaolin Masters,” and that got my attention. I was a huge Chinese martial arts movie buff when I was a kid, and, of course, I saw this movie. One of the stars in it, David Chiang, was my first big celebrity crush. My radar zoomed-in any time there was a movie starring David or a magazine with his photo in it. I plastered my bedroom walls with his posters. I was obsessed with him. I dreamed of meeting him one day soon. When I grew up, I was going to marry him despite the fact he had some years on me. Yeah, I know, it was silly, but that’s what kids do. Alas, I never did meet him. Eventually, I grew up, got busied with life, and forgot him. Sorry, David!

It’s been decades since I heard or saw anything about David Chiang, so seeing the photo of him on George’s post lured me in. George posted a caption over the picture, “Our lunch bunch aka – Five Shaolin Masters.” Since George is a new friend, I don’t know anything about him yet. This caption mystified me, so I went with my preconceived notions: to play along for fun and nothing more. I commented on his post, “💜David Chiang💜 What time is lunch?” I assumed my comment was safe because David wouldn’t make an appearance.

I never expected George to reply with the time and place of their lunch date, and he invited me to join. Whoa! Totally new concept. My eyes opened, and I got it. George posted about his lunch bunch, nicknamed Five Shaolin Masters, and borrowed the photo from the movie fame. He posted about his gang going to lunch together, but he didn’t say so in as many words. He left a lot to our imaginations, and I’ve got a great imagination.   

Since I walked into this scene, I figured I’d keep playing along, so I replied, “Is David Chiang going to be there? I’ll come if he comes.” I giggled.

I did not expect George to reply, “Yes, he said he would drop by.” Whoa! 

I snickered, knowing that David wasn’t going to make an appearance, and I said, “You are hilarious! Nice try!”

George has a sense of humor. I’ll give him that. “You willing to take the chance and miss out?”

“True. Okay, call me when he arrives, k?” I laughed over here as I wrote that.

Did I say George has a sense of humor? He concluded this chat by sending a recent photo of David Chiang as his proof that David showed up. LOL. Touché.

I’ve always been very easygoing and joke around every chance I get. Why? Just to spread smiles and add some laughter to the scene, you know? Harmless stuff. Well, at least that was my preconceived notion. However, from this experience, I learned I need to exercise some caution before I joke with just anybody, especially if we haven’t built a rapport yet. Some of my new FB friends are very social and friendly people who are totally into meeting up and doing things together. That’s fine and dandy. There is a time and place for everything, which doesn’t mean this is the time or the place. I was joking around, not realizing our expectations didn’t align. Anyhoo, from this experience, I learned never to assume.

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