Pamela Anderson and her chronicles

Baywatch.

The show that captivated tons of viewers worldwide. In fact it is the most viewed tv show of all time (reports stated the total number of viewers was 1 billion!). Involving the most successful plotline in the entertainment industry, women with big boobs wearing revealing clothes (in this case swimsuits) paired with steroid using fitness buff males -with a nice twist of giving them jobs as life guards differentiating it form any other soap opera- it was destined to glue audience.

I remembered watching that show when I was in the 3th or 4th grade. Pamela Anderson gave this little naive child a prototype of a perfect women, thank God I passed that superficial cognitive stage. Another vivid moment was David Hasselhoff trying to save people drowing without messing his hair. Either image has a strong effect on me on how fake television was, a hypothesis I concluded at the age of 11.

Well, today I went to Sunshine Coast with a whole bunch of people for this Indonesian student organization picnic. After two stops I barely remember, we stoped at the beach.

Yes, THE BEACH!!
The epitome of my every journey.

I was lucky there were some people willing to swim and slam their bodies recklessly into the mighty waves. Four guys were daring enough to complete this mission: Me, Armand, Lamo, Irwan. After some time Irwan went back to the enjoy the sun and sand, but the rest of us kept fighting against the waves and even throwed some creative profanity undermining its power to bring us down.

BIG capital letters mistake.

As the testosteron of three young boys were raging we suddenly found ourselves beyond the set boundaries. We were too far from the beach and way off to the side where no other swimmers were around. I tried to swim back because I felt the current from underneath was too strong. Armand who was next to me also complained about the same issue. When I managed to control myself, I heard Armand saying he actually cannot swim back. I thought he was lying (if you knew Armand in any situation even concerning life and death you would probably think the same), but mr. boy who cried wolf was actually in real trouble. I swam back after a few honest nano seconds of hesitation. "Hold, my hand!!", he shouted while plunging his hand towards and drowning at the same time. I grabbed him and tried to pull him safely to the shore. Suddenly a small wave seperated us, the main difference was I was pulled to the shallower side and his floated further. In panic times impaired by the tunnel vision response I screamed to Lamo and told him to help Armand who was screaming for help from the top of his lungs. I wanted to swim back but something was holding me back and I doubt it was my energy. As I got nearer to the beautiful sandy beaches I saw both of them struggling. Shit, i'm gonna need years of counseling imagining the overwhealming guilt after their death was the first thing on my mind. Luckily, some Aussie, (ok I'm wrong to assume) some caucasian man help Armand because the wave actually brought Lamo back to safety. The white guy got Armand near the shore and let us carry him when the water reached knee deep. After a thank you from Armand that sounded more like someone just holded the door for him rather than a form of gratitute for saving my life, the man dissapeared.

However, as dramatic as my description seemed there was no Baywatchesque-like scene. People went on swimming, sunbathing, and striding through to beach as if nothing happened. No lifeguards was in sight to assist us. Another ironic life occurence considering a huge tall lifeguard tower was 10 meters away from us. I did'nt hope a David Hasellhoff in his red swim pants response (althought a Pamela Anderson in her skimpy red suit would be allrite), but at least could these so called heroes showed a little concern? Nevertheless, I was most dissapointed in my self. Dying young was'nt a experience I was ready to except, thus holding back my every nerves to actual initiate such death defying sacrifice. In addition, when someone is literally holding your hand for their life, failing is definitely the last outcome you want to mentally picture. I guess the self-loathing heroic scenes from Baywatch had entered my sub-concious and made my self-expectation saving lives bar a little higher.

Alhamdullilah, nothing real bad did happen.

As often said, "the true heroes are regular people who are underappreciated for their acts." .
And today I have seen one in the beach.
Not some hot shot overcredited life guard who gets the cheer at the end of the day.
Not some noble man playing a double life as an angle.
Not even a flawless friend who would naturally give their life away.

Just a standard passerby who just happen to be concern for another human being and expressing through his action. Something we all must start to do, not because God Almighty will write it down in our good list and consequently earning us a point more for a place in heaven.

But, because as humans we should look out for each other. And wake every other day staring at our reflecting miroring image and fell better as a person.