Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The crazy world that we live in...
Somehow I am glad that I wasn't born 6 years later. Back in my time, and that wasn't very far away either, all you needed to do was to study hard and get decent grades and off you go to NUS and NTU. Now you need to be a community service hero (doesn't matter if you don't give a damn about your old and dying grandparents), a sports person (doesn't matter if you actually hate running and swear never to step into Macritchie after your cross country days are over), a passionate person in whatever field you choose (doesn't matter if the sole reason you want to work is actually just to earn enough money so that your parents, you, your wife and children will not starve to death), and a school leader (doesn't matter if you entered the club only because it has only 5 members and you are ensured of an exco position).
Do we really need to be like this? Where's the world where you can just enjoy a kickabout with your friends after school? Without worrying whether it is adding value to your CV when you apply for university? Do we REALLY need to keep racing and moving? Are we racing against aliens from outer space? Where is all this going? When are we going to say "yes we have arrived!" and proceed to enjoy happily ever after? Or we condemned to an endless race? Heck even Britain also worried, seems like we are doomed!
Stressed out Varsity Students (Full article)
Numbers game
WELCOME to the university application season in Singapore - described as 'hell' by the 18- to 20-year-olds pouring out in ever-increasing numbers from the polytechnics, junior colleges and private schools.
University admissions officials say they have never seen this level of tension and competition before. It is evident in the increasing number of students going all out to embellish their co-curricular activities record. And the essays that seem just a little too polished and sleekly written.
All this elbowing and shoving for a university place does not surprise SMU's admissions director Alan Goh. As a parent of two daughters in tertiary institutions, he says a university degree is now seen to be the minimum for survival in the new economy.
When Outstanding is just Average (Full article)
Once these Raffles Junior College students, the creme de la creme from Singapore's most pedigreed secondary schools, receive their result slips, their worries break into relief, grins and high-fives.
But a handful dissolve into tears, as if their perfect world has crashed. In between sobbing, most admit that, all things considered, their results are good - sullied perhaps by one B or C. But they fear that the results are not good enough to secure the most coveted scholarships.
Among the triumphant with perfect scores, the rejoicing dies down after they get wind of the fact that there are 58 other RJC students - just like them - who turned in flawless scores.
------
His friend, Mayank Soni, 18, another nine-A scorer who intends to study economics and engineering in the US, is also cautious when assessing his chances of landing a place in either Harvard, Yale, MIT, Cornell or Stanford, which he has applied to.
He founded a new co-curricular activity (a money-management society), won a silver medal in the international biology Olympiad, played cricket for the school and volunteered with the Singapore Association for the Deaf.
But he is bracing himself for the worst. 'Although I have perfect grades, so do 58 others in RJC. And among the applicants to Harvard, I will just be the average, outstanding student,' he laments.
In schools like Harvard and Yale where every other student is a valedictorian, with perfect or close to perfect Grade Point Averages and SAT scores, admissions officers look for other attributes, such as all-roundedness and 'passion'.
Queen opens new Heathrow terminal (full article)
Airport operator British Airports Authority's chairman Nigel Rudd told the BBC yesterday: 'London deserves a first-class airport. We are starting today. This is a new beginning.'
But green protesters worry that the new terminals are just the first stage in a vast new expansion, which as well as the construction of a third runway will see an increase in passenger numbers by up to 100 per cent.
While the Queen yesterday described T5 as 'environmentally responsible', Greenpeace has called it a 'monument to the binge-flying culture'.
Opponents include local people and even London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who are against the plans on pollution and congestion grounds.
But Mr Rudd defended the expansion, saying: 'We have to compete in the world. The nation has to decide whether we want to be a world class nation or a second-class nation.'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There you have it....run or die.... I think I really need to find a piece of land to go be a hermit farmer....
Do we really need to be like this? Where's the world where you can just enjoy a kickabout with your friends after school? Without worrying whether it is adding value to your CV when you apply for university? Do we REALLY need to keep racing and moving? Are we racing against aliens from outer space? Where is all this going? When are we going to say "yes we have arrived!" and proceed to enjoy happily ever after? Or we condemned to an endless race? Heck even Britain also worried, seems like we are doomed!
Stressed out Varsity Students (Full article)
Numbers game
WELCOME to the university application season in Singapore - described as 'hell' by the 18- to 20-year-olds pouring out in ever-increasing numbers from the polytechnics, junior colleges and private schools.
University admissions officials say they have never seen this level of tension and competition before. It is evident in the increasing number of students going all out to embellish their co-curricular activities record. And the essays that seem just a little too polished and sleekly written.
All this elbowing and shoving for a university place does not surprise SMU's admissions director Alan Goh. As a parent of two daughters in tertiary institutions, he says a university degree is now seen to be the minimum for survival in the new economy.
When Outstanding is just Average (Full article)
Once these Raffles Junior College students, the creme de la creme from Singapore's most pedigreed secondary schools, receive their result slips, their worries break into relief, grins and high-fives.
But a handful dissolve into tears, as if their perfect world has crashed. In between sobbing, most admit that, all things considered, their results are good - sullied perhaps by one B or C. But they fear that the results are not good enough to secure the most coveted scholarships.
Among the triumphant with perfect scores, the rejoicing dies down after they get wind of the fact that there are 58 other RJC students - just like them - who turned in flawless scores.
------
His friend, Mayank Soni, 18, another nine-A scorer who intends to study economics and engineering in the US, is also cautious when assessing his chances of landing a place in either Harvard, Yale, MIT, Cornell or Stanford, which he has applied to.
He founded a new co-curricular activity (a money-management society), won a silver medal in the international biology Olympiad, played cricket for the school and volunteered with the Singapore Association for the Deaf.
But he is bracing himself for the worst. 'Although I have perfect grades, so do 58 others in RJC. And among the applicants to Harvard, I will just be the average, outstanding student,' he laments.
In schools like Harvard and Yale where every other student is a valedictorian, with perfect or close to perfect Grade Point Averages and SAT scores, admissions officers look for other attributes, such as all-roundedness and 'passion'.
Queen opens new Heathrow terminal (full article)
Airport operator British Airports Authority's chairman Nigel Rudd told the BBC yesterday: 'London deserves a first-class airport. We are starting today. This is a new beginning.'
But green protesters worry that the new terminals are just the first stage in a vast new expansion, which as well as the construction of a third runway will see an increase in passenger numbers by up to 100 per cent.
While the Queen yesterday described T5 as 'environmentally responsible', Greenpeace has called it a 'monument to the binge-flying culture'.
Opponents include local people and even London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who are against the plans on pollution and congestion grounds.
But Mr Rudd defended the expansion, saying: 'We have to compete in the world. The nation has to decide whether we want to be a world class nation or a second-class nation.'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There you have it....run or die.... I think I really need to find a piece of land to go be a hermit farmer....
Boy meets Girl - Episode 3 - The Email
For nearly 2 days, Sam waited in vain for that elusive email. He must have checked his email at least twenty times per day. The last time he checked his email so frequently was to check whether he had been successful in the ballot for Man United vs AC Milan tickets, clearly Melanie meant something to him.
After the 2nd day of waiting, Sam was just about ready to give up and go to sleep when he heard the sound of incoming email from his MSN. Sam had the un-environmentally friendly habit of leaving his laptop on when he goes to sleep; makes him feel connected to the outside world. "Oh please, let this be the one!" Sam mumbled as he jumped out of bed and headed straight for his laptop.
Sam wasn't to be disappointed.
The title of the incoming email simply said "Contacts". "Yippee!!!" Sam nearly did a mini cartwheel in his room as he saw the email. He quickly opened up the MS Excel file (somehow that's the default program used by EVERYONE when they are compiling contact lists) and scanned for Melanie Tan. Now he had her email and handphone number...
Now what?
Sam stared at his laptop blindly. What should he do now? The usual timid and reluctant Sam is back in action again. "Should I send her an email or sms? Should I add her to MSN? Is this even her MSN address? What should I say?" Even after 2 decades on this planet, Sam is still pretty much a nOOb at chasing skirts.
He reverted back to his usual action of scrolling through his MSN contact list. It was littered with plenty of girls whom he had tried to get to know but things fizzled out quickly enough. And everytime Sam told himself that there would be a next time, another second chance. But Sam suddenly remembered what he prayed/told himself when he stepped out of the seminar room 2 days ago, "if you would give me a second chance, I promise to never let it slip again, NEVER! Just let me have another chance."
Sam slapped himself involuntarily when he thought of this. "Come on Sam! What can be so difficult about sending an email? At worst she will just not reply you and you would not see her ever again! You have not even tried, what second chance do you deserve?" Sam gritted his teeth and drafted a quick email; he decided an sms would be too abrupt.
---------------------------------------------------
Hey Melanie,
It's Sam here, hope you remember me :) Just wanna drop a note to say that I added you on MSN, hope that's ok with you. Anyway good luck with your practical for the next month. See you back in HQ soon :)
Sam
--------------------------------------------------
*SENT*
Sam leaned back in his chair. His heart was racing a little bit. He was very excited at the potential reply, but nervous and worried at the same time. "Would she read the email? Is the email address correct? Would she bother to reply?" It has been at least 2 years since he felt something like this. But all his previous attempts had ended up with nothing but tears. Would this be yet another case?
"BAH!" Sam jumped back into bed, determined to push the past memories away as he covered his head with his blanket.
"At least now I can dream again...." and off he drifted to sleep.
After the 2nd day of waiting, Sam was just about ready to give up and go to sleep when he heard the sound of incoming email from his MSN. Sam had the un-environmentally friendly habit of leaving his laptop on when he goes to sleep; makes him feel connected to the outside world. "Oh please, let this be the one!" Sam mumbled as he jumped out of bed and headed straight for his laptop.
Sam wasn't to be disappointed.
The title of the incoming email simply said "Contacts". "Yippee!!!" Sam nearly did a mini cartwheel in his room as he saw the email. He quickly opened up the MS Excel file (somehow that's the default program used by EVERYONE when they are compiling contact lists) and scanned for Melanie Tan. Now he had her email and handphone number...
Now what?
Sam stared at his laptop blindly. What should he do now? The usual timid and reluctant Sam is back in action again. "Should I send her an email or sms? Should I add her to MSN? Is this even her MSN address? What should I say?" Even after 2 decades on this planet, Sam is still pretty much a nOOb at chasing skirts.
He reverted back to his usual action of scrolling through his MSN contact list. It was littered with plenty of girls whom he had tried to get to know but things fizzled out quickly enough. And everytime Sam told himself that there would be a next time, another second chance. But Sam suddenly remembered what he prayed/told himself when he stepped out of the seminar room 2 days ago, "if you would give me a second chance, I promise to never let it slip again, NEVER! Just let me have another chance."
Sam slapped himself involuntarily when he thought of this. "Come on Sam! What can be so difficult about sending an email? At worst she will just not reply you and you would not see her ever again! You have not even tried, what second chance do you deserve?" Sam gritted his teeth and drafted a quick email; he decided an sms would be too abrupt.
---------------------------------------------------
Hey Melanie,
It's Sam here, hope you remember me :) Just wanna drop a note to say that I added you on MSN, hope that's ok with you. Anyway good luck with your practical for the next month. See you back in HQ soon :)
Sam
--------------------------------------------------
*SENT*
Sam leaned back in his chair. His heart was racing a little bit. He was very excited at the potential reply, but nervous and worried at the same time. "Would she read the email? Is the email address correct? Would she bother to reply?" It has been at least 2 years since he felt something like this. But all his previous attempts had ended up with nothing but tears. Would this be yet another case?
"BAH!" Sam jumped back into bed, determined to push the past memories away as he covered his head with his blanket.
"At least now I can dream again...." and off he drifted to sleep.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Boy meets Girl - Episode 2 - The Introduction
After what seemed like an eternity, the facilitator of today's session took a break. The facilitator asked the various groups to take this opportunity to do a round of proper self introduction. Sam was very happy at that prospect because he hasn't heard the girl speak since she came late. It was a good chance for him to know a little bit more about her.
The self introductions were generally short. Everyone centred around the topic of what courses they took in university and some of the other careers they had been in before they joined this company. Sam tried to pay attention to the self introductions of the others in the group. He felt that they were at times cliche-d and usually boring. In truth, his own introduction was not much better either. But he didn't quite care, all he was waiting for was for her to speak. Finally, it came to her turn. Her voice was sweet and soothing to the ears; he was smitten. Her name was Melanie and she had just graduated from university. "She must be at least one year younger than me," Sam reasoned to himself after some mental calculations.
"Besides this job, I never really thought of doing anything else," Melanie spoke after some thought. Sam's interest was truly aroused by this statement. "Wow, she must be a very nice girl to have said that." This job isn't the most financially rewarding and requires lots of patience and love - something which Sam was quite ashamed of as he is not the nicest of persons around. She certainly did not need to lie or say that sentence. That statement certainly made a strong impact on Sam, much stronger than he realised it would...
Soon after the self introductions, it was time for tea break. The discussions moved out of the room to the refreshment area. Sam did his usual thing: listening to others speak. He was never the best conversationalist around, and over time had mastered the art of listening to others. But even when listening to others, his attention never shifted away from Melanie. When Melanie moved away from the group to get another cup of coffee, Sam decided to move over to get a cup of tea too. Finally! Some one-on-one chance to speak to her! He helped her to fill her cup and with all his courage, brought up some random topic. To his surprise, her reply was earnest and the conversation continued smoothly. He told her (with some pride) that he went overseas for his degree while she lamented that she missed the chance to go overseas for exchange as she felt that it was way too expensive. He felt that it was a waste as the overseas experience would be really incredible and he began to relate some of his experiences overseas. He felt really excited and nervous when he looked into her eyes as she listened. "Am I appearing to be too obnoxious?" he wondered.
The rest of the day and the day after followed a similar pattern. During the lesson in the classroom, Sam would occupy himself by observing Melanie. Her gentle smile at every joke that the facilitator made attracted him the most. At times, she would look over and Sam would smile back at her, to indicate that the joke was funny to him too. She would also smile back. Ahhhh, it was almost enough to lift him into cloud nine. Whenever there were tea breaks, Sam found small little chances to talk to her, but it was never for long stretches as he was not confident of talking. But each little snippet of information he gained was good enough for him.
Very quickly, the 2 day workshop was fast coming to an end. They would soon be deployed to different branches of the company for practical experience. Sam's mind was racing, should he ask for her number? Would it appear too abrupt?
"God or whoever up there might never give you a second chance you know?"
"But, I don't really know her that well, is it all right to ask for her hp number?"
Sam struggled within himself to come to an answer. In the meantime, the clock ticked towards 530pm. Sam twiddled his pen and notebook and contemplated whether to pass them to Melanie. As he glanced towards her, he noticed that she was feeling a bit cold, and offered to switch places with her. She politely refused. The notebook and pen remained on his table.
"Sigh, I'm such a loser..." Sam's thoughts were cut off by another member of the group. He had offered to compile a contact list for the group! "Yippee!" Sam thought as he did a mental cartwheel. As the note was passed to him, he tried to memorise Melanie's email but could not. He wanted to copy it down but was afraid that the people around him might realise it. Feeling helpless, he had to pass the note on.
"Maybe I will offer to give her a lift to the nearest train station, and then ask for her number," Sam's mind kicked into overdrive. There was just the little question of plucking up the courage to ask though. And also having as little people follow them as possible. But after the session, Melanie seemed to want to ask the facilitator some questions, and the queue was pretty long. At the same time, Sam needed to use the toilet urgently - and most definitely unfortunately. He decided to dash to the toilet quickly and come back to look for her. As you would've guessed it, he came back to a nearly empty room, empty to him anyway as Melanie was nowhere to be seen.
"Aarghhhhhhh!" Sam grumbled as he walked out quickly to try and catch a glimpse of the yellow Mango top that Melanie had worn that day. Sadly, she was long gone. Sam made his way down the hill and steps to his car dejectedly. Now he had to wait for the group contact list. "I hope that guy compiles the list quickly," Sam muttered to himself as he drove out of the company.
For the next 2 days, Sam checked his email regularly for the contact list. It did not arrive. "Damn damn damn, I should have gotten her number myself, how silly of me!" Sam felt like whacking his brain for his stupidity. Silly thoughts filled his mind as he tried to recall Melanie's email, and whether he had written his own email correctly. "I might never see her again!" Sam wailed in his heart.
Feeling helpless, he prayed to the One up there. "Please God, if you would give me a second chance, I promise to never let it slip again, NEVER! Just let me have another chance."
His email inbox remained empty.
The self introductions were generally short. Everyone centred around the topic of what courses they took in university and some of the other careers they had been in before they joined this company. Sam tried to pay attention to the self introductions of the others in the group. He felt that they were at times cliche-d and usually boring. In truth, his own introduction was not much better either. But he didn't quite care, all he was waiting for was for her to speak. Finally, it came to her turn. Her voice was sweet and soothing to the ears; he was smitten. Her name was Melanie and she had just graduated from university. "She must be at least one year younger than me," Sam reasoned to himself after some mental calculations.
"Besides this job, I never really thought of doing anything else," Melanie spoke after some thought. Sam's interest was truly aroused by this statement. "Wow, she must be a very nice girl to have said that." This job isn't the most financially rewarding and requires lots of patience and love - something which Sam was quite ashamed of as he is not the nicest of persons around. She certainly did not need to lie or say that sentence. That statement certainly made a strong impact on Sam, much stronger than he realised it would...
Soon after the self introductions, it was time for tea break. The discussions moved out of the room to the refreshment area. Sam did his usual thing: listening to others speak. He was never the best conversationalist around, and over time had mastered the art of listening to others. But even when listening to others, his attention never shifted away from Melanie. When Melanie moved away from the group to get another cup of coffee, Sam decided to move over to get a cup of tea too. Finally! Some one-on-one chance to speak to her! He helped her to fill her cup and with all his courage, brought up some random topic. To his surprise, her reply was earnest and the conversation continued smoothly. He told her (with some pride) that he went overseas for his degree while she lamented that she missed the chance to go overseas for exchange as she felt that it was way too expensive. He felt that it was a waste as the overseas experience would be really incredible and he began to relate some of his experiences overseas. He felt really excited and nervous when he looked into her eyes as she listened. "Am I appearing to be too obnoxious?" he wondered.
The rest of the day and the day after followed a similar pattern. During the lesson in the classroom, Sam would occupy himself by observing Melanie. Her gentle smile at every joke that the facilitator made attracted him the most. At times, she would look over and Sam would smile back at her, to indicate that the joke was funny to him too. She would also smile back. Ahhhh, it was almost enough to lift him into cloud nine. Whenever there were tea breaks, Sam found small little chances to talk to her, but it was never for long stretches as he was not confident of talking. But each little snippet of information he gained was good enough for him.
Very quickly, the 2 day workshop was fast coming to an end. They would soon be deployed to different branches of the company for practical experience. Sam's mind was racing, should he ask for her number? Would it appear too abrupt?
"God or whoever up there might never give you a second chance you know?"
"But, I don't really know her that well, is it all right to ask for her hp number?"
Sam struggled within himself to come to an answer. In the meantime, the clock ticked towards 530pm. Sam twiddled his pen and notebook and contemplated whether to pass them to Melanie. As he glanced towards her, he noticed that she was feeling a bit cold, and offered to switch places with her. She politely refused. The notebook and pen remained on his table.
"Sigh, I'm such a loser..." Sam's thoughts were cut off by another member of the group. He had offered to compile a contact list for the group! "Yippee!" Sam thought as he did a mental cartwheel. As the note was passed to him, he tried to memorise Melanie's email but could not. He wanted to copy it down but was afraid that the people around him might realise it. Feeling helpless, he had to pass the note on.
"Maybe I will offer to give her a lift to the nearest train station, and then ask for her number," Sam's mind kicked into overdrive. There was just the little question of plucking up the courage to ask though. And also having as little people follow them as possible. But after the session, Melanie seemed to want to ask the facilitator some questions, and the queue was pretty long. At the same time, Sam needed to use the toilet urgently - and most definitely unfortunately. He decided to dash to the toilet quickly and come back to look for her. As you would've guessed it, he came back to a nearly empty room, empty to him anyway as Melanie was nowhere to be seen.
"Aarghhhhhhh!" Sam grumbled as he walked out quickly to try and catch a glimpse of the yellow Mango top that Melanie had worn that day. Sadly, she was long gone. Sam made his way down the hill and steps to his car dejectedly. Now he had to wait for the group contact list. "I hope that guy compiles the list quickly," Sam muttered to himself as he drove out of the company.
For the next 2 days, Sam checked his email regularly for the contact list. It did not arrive. "Damn damn damn, I should have gotten her number myself, how silly of me!" Sam felt like whacking his brain for his stupidity. Silly thoughts filled his mind as he tried to recall Melanie's email, and whether he had written his own email correctly. "I might never see her again!" Sam wailed in his heart.
Feeling helpless, he prayed to the One up there. "Please God, if you would give me a second chance, I promise to never let it slip again, NEVER! Just let me have another chance."
His email inbox remained empty.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Boy meets Girl - Episode 1 - The Meeting
"Can't believe I have to wake up at 7am and climb up this stupid hill everyday for the next year or so," Sam thought as he trudged up the steps wearily. Sam had never been the most optimistic of persons. He hated the whole new day at new place sort of thing; the self introductions, the trying-to-be-polite conversations, the awkward silences etc. This was another one of those occasions.
"I hope today ends early," Sam thought as he took out the timetable that he received over the mail. It said the day would be over at 530pm. "Don't think I should hold out too much hope, better to mentally prepare myself for a long day," Sam replied to himself as he struggled to stifle a yawn; clearly he is not a day person.
As usual, Sam was one of the earliest to reach the place. He is always early, especially for official things such as today. He was very afraid of authority, and would rather obey than to get into unnecessary trouble. He scanned the room for a while; there were only 4 people inside, including the facilitator. He mentally decided to avoid all small talk, and hence chose the unoccupied corner of the room. He slumped himself into an empty seat, and proceeded to do his usual routine. It usually consist of him closing his eyes and trying to take a nap in any position. It was his way of telling the world - I am cool. I had a late night, a very happening night and now I am too tired to attend this thing but I am here because I have to. He had always been trying to fit in since young. To fit in, you have to be cool. And this was his way of being 'cool'.
But the truth is he can never really get to sleep, too much of a light sleeper.
It wasn't long before the room started to get filled up. One after another, men and women, the old and young, the hip and the not-so-trendy, trooped into the room. Some came with friends, most came alone. They did the usual thing, scanned the room, chose the seats, sat down and tried to make small talk with their neighbours. As is usually the case, Sam's "corner" is always the last to be filled. It always is.
"Here we go again, same old boring things again." Sam thought. On one hand he wished some nice and pretty girls would come to his corner, on the other hand he didn't really wish to make meaningless small talk. But as the room got filled up slowly, it was inevitable that his part of the room would be filled up too. Not wanting to appear too rude, he started making small talk with the people around him, and they were mainly guys. The chatter of voices soon reached cacophonous levels.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the facilitator spoke. He did some quick self introductions and began to touch on his agenda for the day. He was an entertaining speaker, but the eternal cynic in Sam dismissed it as propaganda or outdated, irrelevant advice. He was listening, but he wished there was something else to occupy his mind instead...
That "something" else soon arrived. She was late. "15 minutes late," Sam thought as he stole a glance at his watch. She came in, spotted an empty seat (about 3 seats away from Sam), and sat down. There was minimal contact with the people around her, and she simply looked in front with barely an expression on her face.
It didn't matter much to Sam though, as he adjusted his seat slightly such that he was facing her side profile. Trained in the fine art of fake-you-are-paying-attention from NS, he was listening AND observing her at the same time. "She is really very pretty," he concluded, his day having brightened up considerably. She was wearing a black cardigan over a blue top, with a pair of berms. He also noticed that she wore a necklace with a cross. She had slightly longer than shoulder length hair, with a clip at the back of her head. He liked her hair a lot. But he liked her smile even more. Whenever the facilitator told a joke, she would smile in such a sweet manner that Sam was totally captivated.
"I think I can sit here all day and see her smile," Sam mumbled to himself. It has been a long time since he felt this warm fuzzy feeling inside him. "Perhaps today might turn out to be quite all right after all!"
"I hope today ends early," Sam thought as he took out the timetable that he received over the mail. It said the day would be over at 530pm. "Don't think I should hold out too much hope, better to mentally prepare myself for a long day," Sam replied to himself as he struggled to stifle a yawn; clearly he is not a day person.
As usual, Sam was one of the earliest to reach the place. He is always early, especially for official things such as today. He was very afraid of authority, and would rather obey than to get into unnecessary trouble. He scanned the room for a while; there were only 4 people inside, including the facilitator. He mentally decided to avoid all small talk, and hence chose the unoccupied corner of the room. He slumped himself into an empty seat, and proceeded to do his usual routine. It usually consist of him closing his eyes and trying to take a nap in any position. It was his way of telling the world - I am cool. I had a late night, a very happening night and now I am too tired to attend this thing but I am here because I have to. He had always been trying to fit in since young. To fit in, you have to be cool. And this was his way of being 'cool'.
But the truth is he can never really get to sleep, too much of a light sleeper.
It wasn't long before the room started to get filled up. One after another, men and women, the old and young, the hip and the not-so-trendy, trooped into the room. Some came with friends, most came alone. They did the usual thing, scanned the room, chose the seats, sat down and tried to make small talk with their neighbours. As is usually the case, Sam's "corner" is always the last to be filled. It always is.
"Here we go again, same old boring things again." Sam thought. On one hand he wished some nice and pretty girls would come to his corner, on the other hand he didn't really wish to make meaningless small talk. But as the room got filled up slowly, it was inevitable that his part of the room would be filled up too. Not wanting to appear too rude, he started making small talk with the people around him, and they were mainly guys. The chatter of voices soon reached cacophonous levels.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the facilitator spoke. He did some quick self introductions and began to touch on his agenda for the day. He was an entertaining speaker, but the eternal cynic in Sam dismissed it as propaganda or outdated, irrelevant advice. He was listening, but he wished there was something else to occupy his mind instead...
That "something" else soon arrived. She was late. "15 minutes late," Sam thought as he stole a glance at his watch. She came in, spotted an empty seat (about 3 seats away from Sam), and sat down. There was minimal contact with the people around her, and she simply looked in front with barely an expression on her face.
It didn't matter much to Sam though, as he adjusted his seat slightly such that he was facing her side profile. Trained in the fine art of fake-you-are-paying-attention from NS, he was listening AND observing her at the same time. "She is really very pretty," he concluded, his day having brightened up considerably. She was wearing a black cardigan over a blue top, with a pair of berms. He also noticed that she wore a necklace with a cross. She had slightly longer than shoulder length hair, with a clip at the back of her head. He liked her hair a lot. But he liked her smile even more. Whenever the facilitator told a joke, she would smile in such a sweet manner that Sam was totally captivated.
"I think I can sit here all day and see her smile," Sam mumbled to himself. It has been a long time since he felt this warm fuzzy feeling inside him. "Perhaps today might turn out to be quite all right after all!"
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