On a conference call this morning. There were about 10 people on the call, from all around the region:
Me: "Kurniawan are you in the office this morning? You can come to my desk for this call."
K: "No. At home today."
Me: "Are you sick or something?"
K: "Diarrhoea. From the bottom. [announced to the world] I don't know how I got it, you know? But a lot of diarrhoea. So I can't come to work"
It also reminded me of when I first met Kurniawan, earlier this year. We were having lunch with J, one of our new consultants visiting from Singapore:
Me: "Actually, Kurni, I heard your wife just had a baby?" [The previous week I'd been approached to sign a card and eat some cake.]
J: "Congratulations! So how many children do you have?"
K: "Yes. New baby just last month. We have 4 kids now."
J: "Wow. 4 kids. That's a handful."
K: "We only wanted 3 and my wife is having the IUD for 6 years already then suddenly this. The IUD not working. It was working fine for 6 years so now after 3 boys we have a girl. You know even with IUD you can never be sure."
As a topic of conversation, there is nothing lurid or shocking about contraception. It's just a little awkward to introduce it early into a business relationship.
