ode to the soapbox

i have cough. i have flu, and till few days ago, i got a bit of fever.

urghh...

i don't mind getting sick you know, as it's just flu, not life-threatening (unless it's H1Ni but somehow i don't think that's what this is) and i can use a bit of rest at home too (whilst playing my new virtua tennis xbox 360 game that i just bought last week).

but i already took 2 days mc last week because of gastric pain, the week after my one week hari raya break, and getting one this week doesn't look too good from the eyes of the boss and HR no matter how you look at it. plus, i'm going on leave tomorrow till next week.

the timing is just all wrong lahh.. my body chose such an inconvenient time to fall apart. last friday night, we went to zirca pub in clarke quay. my friend asked me to go along since he could get us into the guest list.

you see, it was a mr singapore final event that night, and his friend is actually mr bukit timah. how he got a friend like that, i don't know, but i just wanted to go out and chill.

but then, my nose started running the moment i stepped inside. it was like a curse or retribution or something. i tell you, it doesn't make you feel good to be all wet and drippy while looking at those perfectly healthy bodies on the stage. i felt like such a reject.

and now, it's less than 24 hours till my flight to macau, and i'm not even sure i don't have fever yet. at least, i think i don't. this should be just the normal warm blooded heat. still, i must find a way to cool down the body today, be it by gulping liters of barley drink or wearing ice patch all over. it's just common sense to be prepared, or like the singaporeans say, be kiasu a bit.

i guess eating ice cream is good too, right? i already started coughing anyway, so it's not like it's a big deal. the company thinks it is though, because they think it's appropriate to reward us for getting through the pay freeze and retrenchment and zero OT through this difficult economic downturn by giving us ice creams.

yes ice cream. 2 cones of it. they even elected representatives from each department to decide whether their respective departments will get cones or scoops of ice creams. when other companies get bonuses or even outside outings, we get 2 cones of ice creams, and it's not even haagen daas, or one of those premium brand. i mean, what kind of brand is dairy farm??

well i guess at the very least, all those middle age men and women could flashback their childhood memory, to the excitement when their kindergarten class teacher treated the whole class ice creams to get them to cheer up. after all, this is what it's all about, the company tryring to cheer you up for 2 seconds despite all the shortcomings.

so, good job company x, keep it up! i almost forgot my pay is stagnant already.

the newspaper can say what they want, like today's headline proclaims that singapore is already out of recession, but for me, until we are feeling the benefits, it's all just empty words.

people say, until you walk the talk, you're just talking cock. if the company is doing better, then how come i still cannot claim medical expenses? if i go to work and spread H1N1 to the whole department then it's really not my problem.

when our friends will get married is also not my problem. well most of the times, but when your good friend suddenly announced he's getting married in few months time, it does send shock waves to the richter scale. i felt just like susan meyer suddenly being told that her daughter is pregnant by her neighbour lynette scavo in season 6.

the only difference is, nobody is in life support machine here. well, except PAS that just got whacked left and right after the malaysian state bagan pinang by-election last sunday. they deserved it though. my point is, what's up with endless islamic or secular state, canning or not canning, drinking or not drinking, covered up or not covered up debates? can we just concentrate on how to improve the quality of life of common folks?

but what do i know? i'm just a stagnant-paid employee of a company that rewards ice creams, with drippy nose and unstoppable coughing, and kept in the dark when his best friend was getting married.

quo vadis, adie??



...adie