Drab week
23/07/2004
Time flies, even when you’re not having fun
Raffles Hotel feels like a throwback in time
Earlier in what was probably the highlight of the week, we took a nice walk through grand ole Raffles Hotel after lunch. It rained horribly through lunch, but cleared up somewhat by the time we were done. Sam wanted to check out the Rolex store, so we marched in like good troopers. It was funny when Sam insisted that the watch he was interested in looked better on the website than in reality; the salesperson had a strange look that was a mix of snotty annoyance and futility.
Aging through it
Earlier in the week (or maybe last week) I met an old schoolmate, AC for lunch. He went to college in Australia and now works there – and I hadn’t met him in probably 8 years. We arranged to meet for lunch at the restaurant that another school friend of ours, YW, runs.
It was vaguely amusing to watch the whole scene unfold. AC, YW and a whole buncha guys all came from the same secondary school, which I’m going to call Tactful High School, so they go even further back. But I suppose you can tell a decade later where things were with them all a decade before.
For example, YW takes about 10 seconds to realise who AC was, and then gawks in disbelief for another 10 when AC showed up at the restaurant. I suppose that’s forgiveable. What was surprising to me was within the next 10 seconds into the hellos YW makes a blunt comment about how AC has lost quite a substantial amount of hair.
The conversation then steers to how it-could-also-happen-to-you, before we managed to talk about something else. Which I think was a nice move on my part.
Later on, another alumnus from the famous Tactful High shows up to say hello to AC. Again within the first 10 seconds of meeting him, our friend makes another remark about the weight AC has gained. At which point I really start to feel sorry for AC. Having it pointed out is one thing. Having it pointed out in front of a chick, even if it’s just me, is fairly demasculating.
I think it was downhill from that point. When YW popped by to speak to us now and again, it got more and more competitive. Perhaps the need to sound like he’s made it, despite the weight and hair loss kicked in, but it got to a point where AC was describing his plans to retire at 40, and how he’s already put his investments in place with business ventures, property and other assets. He also didn’t fail to mention that he was earning a good living.
YW put up a gallant attempt to disguise a head-on fight by modestly chipping in that all he had was a part of the restaurant we were in.
It was one of those things VS really should’ve been there to witness, we would’ve laughed about it.
It’s strange how we grow more and more distant with old friends. A decade back we would probably have had more in common than anyone else, but now our lives are so diverse. It’s strange hearing about AC’s new life – bridge and poker night, his penchant for cigars, his property and business ventures, his career. It’s just as strange hearing about my classmate Susan who just had a baby.
The natural order of things
Is this a cyclical trend? Is there always going to be an awkward phase in life every 10 decade or so? There was that whole adolescence angst ten years before where we were wondering what life was about, and how we were supposed to turn out. Now that we’re living that phase of life that we were planning for at adolescence and moving ahead into the thirties, is that same sinking feeling returning again?
I mean, now we grapple with careers, taxes, loans, reports, being too jaded to be frivolous, yet too young to be jaded, biological clocks, hair loss, weight gain, making plans, having goals, staying motivated, working out, finding someone, getting married, having kids, defending yourself when you haven’t found someone or haven’t gotten married or haven’t had kids.
Perhaps we make life more complicated than it has to be.
I think I’ll feel better after some hotcakes tomorrow morning.
