The Artful Dodger at Work

Today marks the first anniversary of my current predicament job. Yes, the Artful Dodger, that is moi, has been hard at work for a year already, if y'know what I mean. ;)

And what better way to celebrate than to be on sick leave? Gastric flu - the catch-all of all ailments. Looking at the amount of medicine the doctor gave, you'll think I'm bedridden or something. And I didn't even mention my insomnia!

I was initially tempted to put up a picture of a tomb, but decided otherwise. I'll be positive instead. The chicken rice man at the hawker centre near my house sort of reminded me to look at things in a different perspective.

I had asked him last night if his job is siong or, more importantly, sian. But no, he takes it all in his stride, despite the long hours. We then went on to discuss worldly issues like competition, foreign talent and the state of the economy.

Sian has become the buzzword of our restless, thrill-seeking generation. Every other day, somebody around me, be it a friend, colleague or whoever, would grumble that he or she is sian. Nobody ever mentions anything about a wonderful life or a fantastic job (ok, maybe the latter doesn't exist).

In the grand scheme of things, our lives really aren't so bad. Especially after taking away work stress, low EQ bosses, backstabbing colleagues, office politics, unreasonable clients, low pay, disappearing bonuses, retrenchment, income tax, credit card bills, house/car/education loans, inflated housing prices, expensive cars, record-high fuel prices, inflation, traffic jams, COE, ERP, media monopolies, the evil cable company, government suppression, cowboy presidents, junk mail/spam, viruses/trojans/spyware, relationship/family problems, crying babies, boring lifestyles, bad hair days, acne outbreaks, occasional diarrhoea, insomnia, anorexia, weight problems, haze from forest fires, terrorist threats, SARS, bird/pig flu, mad cow diseases and the crazy weather.

I do hope you concur. :)

Well, at least I can still blog and you can still read it, non?

Seriously, though, everything's just fine. We're not homeless and starving in a war-torn third world country. Be contented.

So if you're still sian, here's a song for you. I can't quote you any dead philosophers, leaders, or scientists, but I do know quite a few wacky - and often violent - rock stars. This one, though, is from REM. They're neither wacky nor violent, just plain brilliant. And this is one of the few songs from them you can actually comprehend.

Turn up the volume, sing along to it and feel sorry for yourself. When you're done, get over it and stop whining. Just remember, everybody hurts sometimes, ok? :)

Oh, and you might need this too.