SPARTANIAN : It's worth to try ...

It was 1988 when we discovered this "Spartanian" game, which then turn to a very interesting subject to discuss

I remember me and my best buddy Katrunada, we were inspired by a friend name Romdonullah (people use to called him Rambay after the alley he lived). Rambay was the one that came with the idea to ask people just to see the "stupid face" when they were not clear about the question. The word "haaa?" follow by a stupid and ugly face that really made this game so funny and interesting (and even the face of our teachers back then .. lol). I remember we used this indistinct meaningless word to screw our friends at school and in our neighborhood. To saw the "ugly" faces with an open mouth say "haaaa??" (sometimes they were so ugly that we couldn't stand to laugh so freakin' hard) brought a kind of satisfy feeling ... wkwkwkwkwkwk .... 

And so on and on we used this word together along with other words like "Starmonu" or "GT Radial" (is this a brand of tire?? you bet it is!!) to make fun out of all people .. and suddenly I notice that it's been 25 years and still counting ...

*note : I was the first student who dare to use this game to our Headmaster (the late Mr. Faisal Islami - May He Rest in Peace), 5 times in a row  only in one class session!! Our great Headmaster who feared by all of us ... wkwkwkwk .. And I won one week treat in the canteen by my friend after that (so stupid, but hey, .. I was a teenager too!!)

Year by year .. together with the growth of my maturity, I started to realize that this is not just a stupid game .. It's more than that ...

I've been in many countries practicing this Spartanian game to local people, and I realize that maybe this isn't just as simple as I thought.  

Why Indonesian so easily answer the unclear questions with the word "haa?" (of course together with the "strange face" if not a stupid face). Is it our custom? or lack of vocabulary? or what?

Why people who basically have English as their main language or second language are so difficult to trap on this game? They use "I beg you pardon?" or "Come again" or "Excuse me?" as a replacement for "haa??" word .. and I think that's nice. 

Indonesian are famous for the good manners and polite people, it's true i think .. that showed through our behavior (although it can be debated), but when it come to how we speak or respond to something unclear, I think we still have to make some correction and development about it ...

People who work in hospitality & services business like Travel Agent, Hotel, Airlines, Public Services and other related job, must have a very basic knowledge about how to speak, how to talk and how to behave with high standard of professionalism. And saying "haa?" with a stupid face is definitely not a standard for it ...

Maybe we can use words like "Maaf?" atau "Bisa diulang?" atau "Kenapa?" with right intonation more often to show that we are in to the right path to hospitality business ... Let's try it from now ... 

So ...

Kemarin kamu spartanian juga ga??

"Maaf, bisa diulang ???"

Alika ... out !!