people seem to be very crabby these days. is it the weather? is it the food? is it the economy or the politics? perhaps they are not getting enough action in the bedroom. headline: sexual frustration causes all types of social maladies.

one day not very long ago, i walked into the neighbourhood cafe to order a birthday cake. a distinguished looking caucasian man walked in to order 6 pieces of cake.

do you want 7 pieces, the lady behind the counter asked, seeing that there were exactly 7 pieces left of that particular cake. a perfectly normal question if you ask me, and a very entrepreneuring one. sell off the leftover pieces so that you can release the space for a new cake. very commendable, and if she was my employee i would have earmarked her for promotion.

the man, apparently with a lot of pent-up issues, in his pants and in his head, replied in a very agitated voice, "6 pieces mean 6 pieces!". he didn't raise his voice though, i give him that much. i turned to have a better look at him, at this well-dressed man, seemingly an expatriate with a high level position, and wondered why a simple reasonable question could spark off such irritation. a single 'no' wasn't good enough for this smart-looking man, he had to let the woman know that he can count. i never knew a situation when one didn't mean one, two didn't mean two, three didn't mean three, but apparently he did.

she asked meekly after a minute or two, "would you want that separately packed?" with the most arrogant yet indifferent look, he just gave a shrug. some people think that standing behind counters for 8 to 9 hours a day is a bliss, and having rude gruff customers is the icing to their day. forget common courtesies like thank you's and please's, expressing your request in a simple decent way was apparently asking for ice from hell.

i learnt that day not to judge a book by its cover. i've always known to respect people who are lower in the social hierarchy but never thought that the idiom goes both ways. a beautiful red apple doesn't mean there are no worms wriggling inside.