What will be shall be

The Fever

Finally, after 4 long years, the World Cup is here again. The World Cup always generates the most excitement compared to all other major sporting events like the Olympics. Even our General Election is peanuts compared to the World Cup. Sars? Bird flu? What is it compared to the World Cup fever? Once the fever sweeps through, everything is destroyed in its path.

Look at all the commericals you see on TV now. Even those products that have no whatsoever connection with soccer are using the World Cup as a theme.Everywhere, from markets to shopping malls, coffee shops to restaurants, the posters and banners are everywhere. Anyone who doesn't know that the World Cup is taking place now ought to be shot.

Even my mother who has no interest at all in soccer came and asked me when it's going to start and who I think will win the World Cup (I told her Batam). Whether you are in the office, army camp or the MRT on the way home, you will hear people talking non-stop about it.

An auntie of mine, in a bid to see David Beckham in action, took both her young kids to a nearby coffeeshop to watch England play Paraguay. She left them at the playground right behind the coffee shop and watched the game all by herself. No wonder the crime rate is rising.

And of course, where there's soccer, there is betting. I find myself giving crash courses everyday to various people on how to bet. They will come and ask,"eh, what is call give 1/2 ball huh?" or "if I take England put 1 1/2 and they win 1-0, do I win or lose?" Even those 4-eyed nerds who seemed to only know how to study are interested. But when I told them the minimum bet at Singapore Pools was $5 they went crazy. "Huh....I thought can bet 50 cents one..." That is perhaps why nerds are nerds and why nerds will always remain as nerds.

I am not being spared neither. My dark circles are getting increasingly darker and if not for my dark complexion, I would have been mistaken for a zombie. Nothing else seems to matter anymore. I am only concerned who plays who tonight.

As for those girlfriends whose boyfriends somehow behave like Cindarella (when 9 o clock is approaching, they make excuses to leave, leaving behind not glass slippers, but a trail of Singapore Pools betting slips), you should know he is rushing home or to meet his khakis for the 9pm match.

My advice to these girlfriends is let him go. You wouldn't want a distraught boyfriend by your side, physically with you but with the heart in Germany. And you shouldn't complain too. After all, the World Cup comes only once every 4 years while your GREAT SINGAPORE SALES comes EVERY year. So there, stop whinning and let him go. Just for a month.

posted by malmoncolo @ 11:48 PM