Thailand’s mood these days may be more downcast than usual, but nobody seems to have told Jip. Her brand of drunk-on-life cheerfulness is delightful. It doesn’t take much to start her chuckling, a little bit like that film character played by Dudley Moore who used to say, “Sometimes I just think funny things.”
Consider this anecdote from last night. As a former nurse, Jip insists that her caregivers wash their hands often. She even loudly counts to ten as they’re scrubbing. That length of time (or about long enough to sing Happy Birthday twice) is thought to be effective at decreasing viruses.
Jip’s regular caregivers hear her count several times a day, and have probably tuned it out. During my turn on Sunday nights, I still listen for her to reach the end, because I know she’ll ask me to do it again if I finish too early. Last night, thinking of my birthday the day before, she switched from counting to singing. She only got through the song once, stopped by her own ripples of laughter.
1 comment:
Mai pen rai.Chop sanuk, sanuk...are these phrases still an integral part of Thai character, or have the people finally succumbed to the political disease of getting serious about democracy? As if electing a Democratic President with grass-roots efforts has really changed the power structure over here in WA DC.
I've always admired the cavalier style of Thai politics.
ken berry
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