Tis was another day, in the library studying for my Math 32A final, when one day, I was suddenly multi-tasking. That is to say, I was studying the proofs and theorems that were going to be on the final and watching over someone else's stuff for 40-50 minutes at the same time.
Okay, before that time had elapsed, I suddenly heard a vibration. Thinking it was a text message from one of my friends or my mother, I opened my phone. It turns out it was a call from my mom!
Now, normally I wouldn't be calling in the reading room like this, where I was preparing for my math exam at that time. Unfortunately, to get up and talk outside would mean someone would steal either my stuff or that person's belongings that I was watching over. She apparently had to tell me important things, especially about reminding me about ordering SuperShuttle to go to LAX when I return for Spring Break.
I couldn't hang up the phone at all, because she said it was too important for me to even not listen. So I stayed on for as short as possible. Finally, that person in which I was watching over his stuff came back after about 5 minutes into the conversation. Unfortunately, I think I was talking maybe too loudly even as I am whispering. And suddenly, according to Ryan Samii, one of my friends who happened to be present in the reading room at that time, someone sitting behind me in a cubicle started to record the last 10 seconds of my cell phone conversation at the same time everyone in the reading room (let's say, about 100-200 students in the library including Ryan since he witnessed my incident) stood up and looked at me.
Uh oh, it looks like I was on the verge of getting in trouble for talking on my phone, so I simply said this:
"Mom, I'm in the library right now, I have to get back to studying now!" (Hangs up)
And, gosh, everyone was like laughing at me after saying that and I was like, "I'm embarrassed! I'm embarrassed!!!!!!!" Afterwards, I got a standing ovation for doing something I didn't know I was doing apparently. I thought everyone laughed because of the way I broke the prime rule of the reading room: No cell phones in the library.
Probably the worst (or what everyone else said is funniest) part was this: I was unaware that I performed an action that stood up against Alexandra Wallace's rant against Asians using cell phones in the library in the so-called video "Asians in the Library." I hadn't even seen or heard about that video, even as Jimmy Li told me to watch out for her, in which I didn't have time to see because of final exam studying times.
Later, when I talked to Marilyn McGowan and Jason Mayer on the way back from Powell, word is that both of them and everyone else has heard about my phone call. Oh dear, did I just become an unknown celebrity for just that incident? Am I going crazy at all?
It was then, that Marilyn told me everything about Asians in the Library video and how everyone thought I was THE Asian in the library Alexandra Wallace was talking about.
It turns out that everyone laughed because they all heard about that video and were very glad that I talked on my cell phone (albeit unintentionally due to me not hearing about the video) in the most genuine way.
Okay, I finally admitted my incident to my roommate and best UCLA friend, Bryan, as well as Brandon Chan and my other roommate, Ivan. They laughed so hard that they even said that this was the best break from studying after hearing my story of the incident. Later on, I found out that the last 10 seconds of my call (where I said I'm in the library and that I had to go back to studying) was recorded according to Christos and Ryan. Oh no...
To be honest, this is the one time I don't even want to become a celebrity from just this. Crap, since the call got partially recorded....
After hearing all this though, I'm finally glad that I was able to stand up against Alexandra that apparently no one else did. It's all good.
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