What’s Your Flavor?

“Tunggu” Andre berbelok membuat saya menghentikan langkah menuju ke kasir.

“Wait up” Andre made a turn which stopped me from going to the cashier.

“Mau kemana?” saya membuntutinya “Kan semua yang barang ada dalam daftar belanjaan kita sudah lengkap”

“Where are you going?” I followed him “We’ve got everything in our grocery list”

“Mau es krim ga?” dia menoleh sambil nyengir.

“Want some ice cream?” he turned to look at me, grinning broadly.

“Wah, kalau yang itu sih ga akan pernah nolak” saya tertawa.

“Never say no to that” I laughed.

Dia mengambil beberapa es krim literan sementara saya memperhatikan.

He took some ice cream while I studied them.

“Makin banyak saja pilihan rasanya”

“They’ve got more flavor now”

“Ya mereka harus kreatif menciptakan rasa baru supaya orang tidak bosan”

“They have to be creative finding new flavor or otherwise people would bored”

Kami pergi ke kasir. Membayar belanjaan kami. Lalu pulang.

We went to the cashier. Paid our groceries. And went home.

Di mobil..

In the car..

“Manusia itu seperti es krim” saya memperhatikan es krim yang sedang saya makan.

“People are like ice cream” I stared at my ice cream.

“Bagaimana?” Andre menoleh.

“How’s that?” Andre looked at me.

“Es krim punya banyak rasa” saya merenung “Sama kayak kita manusia”

caught red handed, me and my ice cream..

“Ice cream has many flavors” I gave it a thought “So do people”

Saya menceritakan padanya tentang seorang kawan baru saya.

I told him about my new friend.

“Dia tidak suka makan nasi. Tapi kalau ketemu singkong rebus.. wah, makannya jadi semangat”

“She doesn’t like to eat rice. But when it comes to boiled cassava.. man, it raises her appetite”

Saya bercerita pada suatu pagi dia memasak ikan dan singkong rebus. Masakan ikannya sedap tapi buat saya agak aneh memakannya dengan singkong rebus. Bukan berarti saya tidak suka. Hanya terasa aneh karena biasanya saya makan singkong rebus dengan sambal kacang dan ini cuma sebagai cemilan, tidak sebagai teman lauk.

I told him about one morning she cooked fish dish and boiled cassava. The fish tasted good but it is unusual for me to eat it with boiled cassava. Not that I didn’t like it. It is just that I usually have boiled cassava with peanut chili and it is a snack, not as something to eat with side dish.

“Dia pasti bukan orang dari Jakarta” Andre menebak.

“She doesn’t come from Jakarta” Andre took a guess.

Ya, benar sekali.

Yep, that's right.

“Nah, itu baru satu jenis manusia” saya menceritakan tentang seseorang yang lain. Seorang wanita yang merubah nama serta penampilannya sehingga tidak ada yang mengira dirinya seorang wanita.

“That’s about one person” I told him about another person. A woman who changed her name and appearance that no one would guess she is a female.

“Lesbian” tebak Andre.

“A lesbian” Andre made a guess.

“Yep” saya mengangguk “Nah, ini ada lagi manusia dengan kisah yang berbeda”

“Yep” I nodded “I’ve got another story on other person”

Beberapa hari lalu seorang ibu menanyakan apa suaminya datang ke kantor untuk membayar uang untuk keikutsertaan anak mereka dalam acara yang diadakan oleh departemen di kantor saya.

Few days ago a lady asked me if her husband came to the office to pay the fee for their child’s participation in an event held by a department in my office.

Lucu juga, pikir saya, kok dia tidak nanya saja langsung ke suaminya apa hari itu dia sudah datang ke kantor saya untuk membayar uang itu atau belum.

Funny, I thought, why didn’t she ask her husband if he have come that day to my office to pay that fee.

“Mungkin komunikasi antara dia dan suaminya tidak baik” Andre menduga “Atau mereka sedang bertengkar atau dia tidak percaya pada suaminya”

“Maybe they don’t have a good communication” Andre guessed “Or they had a fight or she didn’t trust him”

Yah, kami hanya bisa menduga-duga.

Yeah, we could only make some guesses.

“Es krim punya banyak rasa” saya menatap es krim saya “Demikian pula manusia”

“Ice cream has many flavors” I looked at my ice cream “So do people”

“Tapi itu yang bikin hidup jadi tidak pernah membosankan” Andre tersenyum “Coba pikir seperti apa kalau es krim cuma ada satu rasa?”

“But that what makes life never bored you” Andre smiled “Just imagine if they have ice cream in one flavor?”

“Dan bayangkan kalau semua manusia punya muka sama, suara sama, warna kulit sama, selera sama” dia tertawa “Itu mimpi buruk”

“And imagine if people have same faces, same voices, same skin color, same taste” he laughed “That would be a nightmare”

Saya tersenyum “Tapi perbedaan itu malah bikin kita stress”

I smiled “The differences stressed us up”

Dia tertawa “Oh iya, kamu contohnya, kamu bikin saya tertawa, tersenyum, kesal, bingung dan kadang-kadang sampai stress juga”

He laughed “Oh yes, you for example, you make me laugh, smile, upset, confuse and sometimes you give the stress”

“Tapi saya mencintai kamu” dan dia mencium saya.

“But I love you” and he kissed me.

“Kamu berbau dan berasa stroberi” dia tergelak.

“You smell and taste like strawberry” he bursted out laughing.

Saya tertawa. Ya tentu saja. Saya sedang makan es krim rasa stroberi. Tentu saja napas dan bibir saya berbau serta terasa stroberi.

I laughed. Yes of course. I was having strawberry ice cream. My breath and my lips did smell and taste like strawberry.

“Saya suka peanut butter” dia nyengir “Tapi stroberi juga enak kok”

“I like peanut butter” he grinned “But strawberry tastes good”

“Manusia seperti es krim.. ada peanut butter, coklat, stroberi, mint” saya tertawa “Kita mungkin punya rasa kesukaan tapi bukan berarti kita menjadi tidak suka atau membenci rasa yang lain”

“People are like ice cream.. there is peanut butter, chocolate, strawberry, mint” I laughed “We may have one favourite flavor but it doesn’t make us dislike or hate other flavor”