A friend messageed me the other day on my IM. Her husband and her was contemplating buy a car because it was becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. With 2 kids and her husband having to travel to the other end of the island, it seems like a necessary expense. Problem is her husband is yet to get a licence. As such, any car purchase was to be done when her husband has obtained a licence to drive.
Somewhere along the discussion, the topic shifted to one about bad lady drivers and the stigma that goes along with it. She was telling me how harrowing it can be sitting on the passenger side of a Hyundai Tuscon being driven by a lady driver who is bad with directions. Those who know me will attest to the fact that I don't normally have a high regard of lady drivers and this stems not so much from hearsay but from the 12 years I have been riding and driving. The thing is, no matter what anyone says, out of every 10 instances of bad driving I encounter, at least 4 could be attributed to bad lady drivers.
Yeah, I already hear the knives being sharpened by lady drivers with the devilish look on their eyes.
In spite of their bad driving and the occasional driving up the road against the flow of traffic, I'd much rather have the bad lady drivers than the inconsiderate male drivers. My dislike for taxi drivers is well-documented. However, that dislike actually extends to those inconsiderate drivers who like to tailgate, race on the roads and drink and drive. And they, mostly, are the males. I admit it. Being a male driver, I too, experience the sudden surge of testosterone whenever my ego is bruised by those who want to enforce their belief that they are better drivers than I am, by tailgating my car while I'm already hitting 100kmh.
Just yesterday, Christopher Lee, the actor, got jailed for drink driving. He's lucky in the sense that in his case no one got killed. Still, there are no excuses for such excesses. I mean you want to endanger your life by racing, go ahead, just don't do it on the roads where there are others using it as well. You want to feel the thrill of speeding, go ahead, just not on our roads where other road users can also be endangered by your rash acts. It's worse if people get killed. And people do get killed.
My anger does not end there. Recently, there was a report of this allegedly drunk guy crashing his car into a busstop at Penang Road. The best part was that he was sheepish about it when asked if he was speeding. Not only was he irresponsible, he was indignant about it too. To me, we have no place for such irresponsible behaviour in our society. It's one thing to be drink-driving, it's another to shrug it off. It's as if other people's lives aren't as important. Damn bloody selfish.
For the lady drivers, as bad as they can be behind the wheel, you are still responsible drivers - mostly.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Rubbing it rite
Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Oh, how true that stands for me now. It seems that there was some unhappiness with regards to my previous rant about my dealing with my wife's crankiness.
One thing does bother me though, who's the idiot who asked my wife to take advantage of her condition and ask me for all sorts of things. I swear that she's getting crankier by the day. Oh, and so much more sensitive too.
I'm still learning to deal with my wife's added crankiness, though she won't admit it. Unfortunately for me, she's just passed her first trimester, which means, the cravings would be kicking in anytime soon.
It seems that I have been misunderstood big time. Here's the thing for those of you who think you know me but dun really do. I am perfectly happy dealing with my wife's crankiness. It's a happy problem, much akin to Sir Alex Ferguson having a fully fit squad when facing AC Milan - I'm not going there now. I have been waiting patiently for 3.5 years to hear, "Congratulations sir, your wife is pregnant" and I'm not about to get rattled by a pregnant woman's crankiness and mood swings, especially when that woman happens to be my wife. I wasn't complaining about her being cranky, and neither was I unhappy that I have more cravings to deal with in the next few months. In fact, I look forward to the next months with the same trepidation I am still having.
When I typed those words, it was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek sort of comment. Instead, I was faced with the wrath of a friend of mine who said,"Women who are pregnant don't know they are cranky". OK, point taken. My wife, while initially displeased with what was written, understood what I meant to say after I had told her what I meant. C'mon, you don't honestly think that I'd label a friend an idiot for cheekily encouraging my wife to take advantage of her pregnancy to get me to do things for her. It's in the same tongue-in-cheek verve that I wrote my previous blog. Let me make it clear once again. I love my wife and I am damn ecstatic that she is pregnant, even with the extra baggage and everything. Enough about it tho.
I just hope my kids don't turn out like some of the kids I see and hear tho. I have a lot of friends who are teachers as I'm sure many Singaporeans do. And many of these teachers are family people themselves, with their own brood. One of these teacher friend of mine was complaining to me about how uncouth some of the students are nowadays. Their lack of sensitivity towards others and their lack of respect towards their teachers are appalling.
I have always believed that we are how we are brought up to be, nurture plays a far more important role than nature. Nurture moulds the mind and psyche while nature defines what we look like and where our strengths would be. If the nurture is lacking, no amount of natural intuition will make up for that lack of proper nurturing. I was really taken aback after reading her blog with regards to what her student mocked her with through his instant messenger. While such immaturity and insensitivity was to be expected given his broken home and lack of fatherly figure, the lackadaisical and nonchalant attitude of his elder cousin towards my friend's protestations about him was even more deplorable, especially considering that she is a teacher herself. If a close family member who happens to be a teacher just wouldn't care, who else would?
I respect the teachers who have persevered through the years to mould our nation. I really do. The kind of things they have to endure, especially from the worst amongst us, is not something many of us have the stomach for. Which is why I am sorry to hear this sort of things happening to the teachers I know. My friend just went thru a torrid and heart-wrenching time and for her student to mock her was totally uncalled-for. And I could understand why she felt the way she did. If it were me, I might just have been pushed over the edge.
Thankfully, I'm not a teacher.
One thing does bother me though, who's the idiot who asked my wife to take advantage of her condition and ask me for all sorts of things. I swear that she's getting crankier by the day. Oh, and so much more sensitive too.
I'm still learning to deal with my wife's added crankiness, though she won't admit it. Unfortunately for me, she's just passed her first trimester, which means, the cravings would be kicking in anytime soon.
It seems that I have been misunderstood big time. Here's the thing for those of you who think you know me but dun really do. I am perfectly happy dealing with my wife's crankiness. It's a happy problem, much akin to Sir Alex Ferguson having a fully fit squad when facing AC Milan - I'm not going there now. I have been waiting patiently for 3.5 years to hear, "Congratulations sir, your wife is pregnant" and I'm not about to get rattled by a pregnant woman's crankiness and mood swings, especially when that woman happens to be my wife. I wasn't complaining about her being cranky, and neither was I unhappy that I have more cravings to deal with in the next few months. In fact, I look forward to the next months with the same trepidation I am still having.
When I typed those words, it was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek sort of comment. Instead, I was faced with the wrath of a friend of mine who said,"Women who are pregnant don't know they are cranky". OK, point taken. My wife, while initially displeased with what was written, understood what I meant to say after I had told her what I meant. C'mon, you don't honestly think that I'd label a friend an idiot for cheekily encouraging my wife to take advantage of her pregnancy to get me to do things for her. It's in the same tongue-in-cheek verve that I wrote my previous blog. Let me make it clear once again. I love my wife and I am damn ecstatic that she is pregnant, even with the extra baggage and everything. Enough about it tho.
I just hope my kids don't turn out like some of the kids I see and hear tho. I have a lot of friends who are teachers as I'm sure many Singaporeans do. And many of these teachers are family people themselves, with their own brood. One of these teacher friend of mine was complaining to me about how uncouth some of the students are nowadays. Their lack of sensitivity towards others and their lack of respect towards their teachers are appalling.
I have always believed that we are how we are brought up to be, nurture plays a far more important role than nature. Nurture moulds the mind and psyche while nature defines what we look like and where our strengths would be. If the nurture is lacking, no amount of natural intuition will make up for that lack of proper nurturing. I was really taken aback after reading her blog with regards to what her student mocked her with through his instant messenger. While such immaturity and insensitivity was to be expected given his broken home and lack of fatherly figure, the lackadaisical and nonchalant attitude of his elder cousin towards my friend's protestations about him was even more deplorable, especially considering that she is a teacher herself. If a close family member who happens to be a teacher just wouldn't care, who else would?
I respect the teachers who have persevered through the years to mould our nation. I really do. The kind of things they have to endure, especially from the worst amongst us, is not something many of us have the stomach for. Which is why I am sorry to hear this sort of things happening to the teachers I know. My friend just went thru a torrid and heart-wrenching time and for her student to mock her was totally uncalled-for. And I could understand why she felt the way she did. If it were me, I might just have been pushed over the edge.
Thankfully, I'm not a teacher.
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