What will be shall be

The money talk

"You know your cousin Ah Peng? Heard that she's now earning more than $7000 a month. Really envious hor?" my mum said to me just that day.

It isn't the first time she talked to me about the success of the children of her peers or my some distant cousins. I wouldn't say I was totally unenvious of those people and knew that my mother was hoping that instead of people boasting to her about their children, she was hoping that she could be the one boasting to other people instead.

It wasn't too long ago that she kept telling me about so or so who has gone abroad for further studies or so or so had got a scholarship given by the Government. Times has changed. The same bunch of people she was talking about have evolved into the successful people she has been talking about now. My mum has aged. So have I.

Just recently, I was at a gathering with some old friends whom I have not met for quite some time. And I felt so odd-out. Their conversation revolves round fast cars and their bosses or the office politics, each boasting to each other about their own prospects and potential while I looked on with amuse. I was almost oblivious to them. Until someone suddenly noticed my presence and turned to me,"What about you? Where you working at? Or still studying?" "I'm in the army." I replied. "Oh, you regular?" he asked. "Nope. I'm large." was my reply.

He certainly wasn't amused and continued his boast about his success to the other people around. And I was kind enough not to remind him that how just a year ago, he had come to me saying that he had owed a lot of money and need help and wished to borrow a couple of hundreds from me. To which I lent and only got it back half a year later.

There was this other guy in the group who turned to me and said that he's starting up a business and offered that maybe someday I can go and work for him. While I have nothing against having a friend as your boss, I couldn't forget that arrogant grin on his face.

Look at the gigantic difference. While these people are talking about fast cars and that office slut, I am still bitching about my Sergeant Major and Officers. To think that this bunch of people was the same bunch who played marbles and block catching with me when we were small kids.

While I don't really feel that inferior because I am very sure about this theory "The world is round. You never know what will happen in the future", it wasn't that pleasing hearing people rant to you with a hint of mockery in their tone, shattering my fragile ego. I regretted not throwing these people down the block when we were playing block catching back then.

As the saying goes, money is just a number game. How true that is. It is the number of times I'm hurt whenever I'm reminded that I am lacking of money. I'm waiting for a Sugar Mummy to come to my rescue. Or a TOTO windfall. Or better still, both.

posted by malmoncolo @ 4:00 PM