hollaback_
Friday, April 14, 2006
i think i'm almost in the clear, which is good. i don't like living with the threat of death hanging over my head. the saying goes, "to live each day as though it were your last". but i think i would rather live each day knowing hell yeah i'm going to live to a robust old age as a hearty senior citizen and die of natural causes in my golden years. but that's just me.
life should be looking better. and i stress,
should. because after having a sobering wake-up call to the frailties of human life, one goes back into the mire. and it's hard to stay positive when there's so much negativity surrounding this place. where falling out because of any reason whatsoever is met with an instantaneous
chaokeng! because either 1. people're jealous that they can't slack as well (case in point : someone who immediately told the Medical Officer the moment he saw him that he had "muscle inflammations", which was something someone else was
diagnosed with just 2 days ago, for real. no one speaks like that in normal, everyday slang. least of all someone who isn't good in english -
weird bugs is cheem angmoh!) due to their ineptitude in such tactical manoeuvres of malingering. or because 2. people are just too stupid to believe that injuries or illnesses can be legitimate.
oh, and superiors whose first thought is that one fails a test on purpose just so that one can attend to more urgent, life-threatening matters outside of an artificially stiff environment. granted, a rafflesian shouldn't fail a stupid test but neither would a rafflesian fail a test on purpose, intellectual pursuit and academic excellence and all that jazz. (not studying is one thing, studying and intentionally underperforming is another which i doubt any rafflesian with any pride would ever get down to) just wonderfully positive, it is!
and so, i was complaining about this to my mother the other day whilst we were having lunch. i was in my uniform, and my wild gesticulating induced by hysteria at the aforementioned superior's accusations on personal integrity caused a mishap with a cup of iced milo. then the most bizarre thing happened. a man who was walking by at that moment stopped, leaned in and over, looked me in the face, and pointed out in a highly grave tone,
"boy, you have dirtied your uniform."
NO SHIT !!!! he pointed out the most OBVIOUS thing, as if the useless breath of one-liner could dry my pants, or worse still, as if i couldn't feel the sinking, soaking feeling seeping through my (thankfully) camouflaged pants. in such a ridiculous moment of absurdity, i could only mutter "i know" because the situation left me utterly flabbergasted. i didn't see what the point of that was, maybe he thought his older man eyes were sharper and keener than my National Slave eyes, and if i am blind to the brown stains i must have lost my sense of smell and sense of touch as well. (not an utter impossibility considering the noxious fumes i inhale everyday) ugh. but the fact that i wear that getup means i'm supposed to be the bastion of integrity and honour, as some sort of ambassador to
that organisation, that i'm supposed to treat any civilian with respect and dignity, shut me up.
but really, people should learn to reign in advice or help sometimes because well-meaning or not, it could be very much unnecessary and unappreciated. as the chinese saying goes,
yuebangyuemang.
mike just took up your time at
12:10 pm
th time!