As a member of the Science department, I have been inundated with tasks related to the up-keeping of our school’s equipment.
Today, a gentleman, whom I have been conversing via WhatsApp last year, came to my school to wash the fish tank. I didn’t need to do this, but I wanted to meet him in person and shake his hand (and tell him that I had settled his quotation for this year — yes, this is why teachers are overworked.)
After saying hello to him, I continued my laptop at the Sci lab table. Then, I struck up a conversation, “So, Uncle, what fish do you like rearing the best?”
That was when I learnt that goldfish typically live for seven years and can live for up to ten years. All my life, I have erroneously thought that goldfish just live for a few weeks.
Then, I asked him about how big goldfish can grow up to.
“And Uncle, why do you like to keep fish?” I persisted.
He smiled bemusingly, “Isn’t the way they swim beautiful?” He was probably wondering why I was asking him weird novice questions.
I am kinda gratified that I learnt something new about how a stranger navigates the world amid a mundane school day.
It's fun when you meet someone who is long-experienced in some thing about which you know little and are able to have this kind of conversation. Probably could happen much more frequently than we realize.
You always get my intent so well!
This is a really interesting fact. I honestly didn't know about the life expectancy of goldfish.
You learn something new every day. 😊
By being 1% better each day, I will become 37x better next year!