It Runs In The Family

I took a picture of myself recently and asked my friend Kavita@Park to have a look. Well, it’s not like she has not seen me before, but its just I changed my hairstyle and the attire I wore in that photo was something nobody would usually see me in. to my shock, all she said was, “What is this? I can only see your NOSE!”

Imagine my shock to hear somebody say that to you when all you were looking for was for some praises on maybe, your hair looks good or you look sexy! I asked her what she meant and her reply was, “your nose is so big that that is the only thing I can really see in this picture of yours”
That’s it. No more talking to Park for insulting me like that. However, its not only Park who has been picking on my nose being so big, another friend of mine does the same too. Every time we get into an argument, the only thing he would say is “Shut up, Big Nose”.

Well, I did not ask for that but it just runs in my family. My mom has the same nose like mine. Even all my cousins do! Once, I was in the hospital taking care of my aunt who was sick, a friend of my cousin showed up and he managed to guess I’m her cousin by just saying we look alike. Ok, I’m no fool, but my cousin and I don’t look alike at all! It’s like she is snow and I’m fire, or maybe she’s Johor and I’m Perlis. We are just the total opposite! After doing some thinking, I got it. Our nose. Though we are cousins and my mum and her mum are siblings, with God’s grace or whatever you would call it, all five of us, I mean me and my four cousins have the same nose, a big nose! To make it better, all my mum’s six sisters and her dad has the same kind of nose.

Gosh, it really runs in the family. My mum used to tell me that when she was small, most Penangites will recognize the seven sisters by their nose. Now I know why my cousins and I are being recognized the same way, it just runs in the family!

But, I’m confused, for some people really admire my nose saying you have a very beautiful nose, it’s sharp and long and makes you look more beautiful. Hmmm…two theories, either they really mean what they say or they are just being sarcastic!
Another thing that I would say as running in the family is our voices. We have this loud and shrilling voice which can be heard three houses away. Maybe I exaggerated, I have the loud and shrilling voice, and the others just have loud voices. When my family has a gathering its difficult to know if we are fighting or just having a normal conversation. I mean, there’s no difference! Everybody talks so loud that even if you are in Alice Wonderland, you’ll wake up having a bad headache.

Surprisingly, I get scolding for this too. My dad always reprimands my mum and I for talking loudly when we cook. One day, I was three houses away from mine when I heard my dad’s voice talking, so clearly. For a moment, my friend and I were mortified thinking there was some problem at home, so she stayed where she was and I proceeded to my house to check what was going on. He was on the phone talking to his friend at the dining area, and yet, my friend could still hear his voice! So much for me and my mum talking very loud!
I always get scolding in tuition for talking very loudly. Sometimes even when I whisper, I’m accused for making noise. So unfair! But, the loud voice got me participating in the Malay debate and got the Best Speaker Award! To make it better, having this voice gave me the Head of Discipline in my school’s prefectorial board! Cool isn’t it?

Well, talking very loud could be annoying but for my family, it’s just who we are. And having a big nose may make you like a weirdo, but that’s what will define us and keeps us as a family.