satire: All is not O. K.

 

The station master of a station was talking to his wife. Now what do husbands talk about? Be it the phone or face to face, they have to ‘listen’ and keep repeating "Yes Dear, O.K.” On the same lines, the Station Master told his wife on the phone, ‘The rest we will discuss when I’m back home, OK!’ Now others do not know when the wife is scolding, husbands have a template of response, it is all so very predictable. On the other hand, the Assistant Station Master who was sitting with him and had come to ask whether the train waiting at the ‘outer’ (signal) be given OK (symbolizing- line clear Go ahead) What the poor ASM heard was the Station Master’s concluding ‘OK’ to his wife.   When ASM heard OK, he promptly gave line clear to the train. 

 

 On hearing OK from the ASM, the engine driver streamed off the train, ran into another train, hitting the stationary train already on the same track. As a result, the railways suffered a whopping loss of Rs 3 crore. The control phone in the railway system is an open line, i.e. everyone can listen on the entire route.

 

It is learnt that this station master was already having a fierce quarrel going on with his wife and she used to scold her Station Master husband at home, but not contended, she called him and scolded him in the office. In order to cut short, the verbal onslaught, the station master shouted ‘OK’ to his wife. What he actually said, "I'll come home and discuss, OK.!” Hearing OK!  the train went on the wrong track and there was a huge issue. Master Saab went home shouting and fought with his wife over this. They fought hard and fought to the level that both of them got divorced. Now think of this one O.K.  What havoc it did. In this case, O. K. in fact, was ‘not O. K.’ It is a very dangerous word. There was a book titled ‘I am O.K. you re O K.’ Here O.K. in its entirety in a wider sense. O. K., You see! has many connotations. O. K. means anger that you do, whatever you feel like. I care two hoots! OK?

O. K.’s other meaning is- yes, so one meaning is "I'm fine." OK. It also means that you have my consent. If I say, I am ready, I agree. Yes, in this case, everything with the poor station master. OK ultimately turned into Not O. K. The wife also left him in Not OK condition. This is anything but OK. This O. K. got the poor Station Master suspended, caused a loss of Rs 3 crore to the railways and ultimately resulted in a divorce. Is it O. K.? So, in true sense one OK turned out to be Not OK.