Well, not so much talking as it was... arguing. And then again not so much arguing as it was the father trying to placate a whiny secondary school kid.
It went something like this:
Dad: "Take this. It'll stop your cough."
Kid: "I doen waannnn..."
Dad: "Just take this. You won't cough so much."
Kid: "I doen liiiiike...."
After a while -
Dad: "Here. Bread."
Kid: "I doen waaannnn..."
Dad: "Eat this. You haven't finished your breakfast."
Kid: "Cannot finish before we reach school waaannnn..."
Dad: "You will go hungry."
Kid: "I eat in school laaaah..."
And then, the kicker -
Dad: "EH! What happened to your project?"
Kid: "I left at home laaah..."
Dad: "Why? I told you to check."
Kid: "I told the maid to put it inside, and she didennnnn..."
I was seriously annoyed by the kid. I cannot stand a whiny voice. I mean, if you want to whine, at least do it in short syllables, not dragging out a damn word for ten seconds.
And the maid thing just pissed me off.
Hello? How old are you?
Firstly, how difficult can it be to put a project into your bag and take it to school? Secondly, if you lose it/didn't bring it, at least accept the responsibility. Did your maid do your schoolwork for you too? How about your exams?
And the father!
Firstly, why in the world are you sending your kid to school? Can't your kid go to school by himself? It's not like the dad was driving the kid to school - they were BOTH taking the bus! Added trouble for you AND the son isn't exactly saving travelling time either! Secondly, why do you keep forcing the kid? It's clear he doesn't want anything to do with your suggestions, so forcing him is just pain for you, the kid, and the commuters around you.
In the end I just changed seat.
Such mollycoddling is just gross.
This comes amid the hoo hah about the SAF soldier letting his maid carry his field pack. Now I don't think I should comment on that - because I'm still in the army - but the standard of SAF soldiers is besides the point.
The point is, no one should carry your burden for you.
It's your field pack, you were assigned to it, so carry it. It's your army commitment, so you either see it all the way through, or find your own way to survive. And whatever happens, u take responsibility for it. Be it regret or joy, or a good mixture of both... it's all yours.
It's the reason I tend to not like sharing emotional stuff with my friends and family. For those people who have known me for some time, I am always the joker. I am the Kathy Griffin, the Margaret Cho, the occasionally vulgar, sometimes-not-funny-but-insulting nonsensical guy, the one you wouldn't like to hang out with for too long but is good in small doses.
You don't see me as the angry one, the one with hatred for general humanity and its prejudices, the one who is confused, the one who is sad, the one who disguises his sadness with poorly-constructed humor.
That's because I don't tell anyone about my sadness.
And of course, because I'm not that kind of a person... I won't go into details. :)
All I'm saying is, you were born alone, and you die alone. Unless you're one half of a Siamese twin.
So you have to be independent! Independence is the one quality that I believe will serve you well. And independence, incidentally, isn't something that you learn from going through school or army. Irene Ang and Steve Jobs never completed university. Most of the girls in Singapore never went through army.
You learn independence by seeing the alternative - the What If.
What if your parents suddenly die? What if all your assets fall drastically in value the next day? What if your parents throw you out? What if one day everyone finds you annoying and hates your jokes - if they haven't already? Who do you rely on?
You might rely on your parent's money, but if given a choice, would you take their money without qualms, or would you consistently think of ways to pay them back?
No one should carry the burden for you. It's easy to let someone else carry, because, after all, they're THERE. But what if one day they are not?
What then?
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