1. It's a shame when your boss invites you to indulge in room service on the company dime, but the hotel doesn't have room service for breakfast, only for dinner. (Who wants to eat dinner in bed? It just isn't the same.)
2. The BMW 760 is just as beautiful inside as out. Getting a lift in one owned by a client is quite an incentive to get out and sell more software, I must say.
3. Whatever images CCR's "Lodi" calls to mind, you probably never envision it sung by a Filipina in a red floor-length evening gown with a synthesizer for accompaniment. At least I never did, until now. But it was surprisingly enjoyable.
4. KL traffic really sucks.
5. Getting a ride to the airport in a KL taxi whose driver offered you a cheaper price than the train on the condition that he could get you there faster is a bigger thrill than any amusement park ride. But wear your seatbelt!
6. Singapore looks just a little bit cleaner and well kept every time I get back from anyplace else in the region.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday? Must be Indonesia
It hadn't really been bothering me until fairly recently, but my first anniversary in Singapore just went by in April with me having not left the Garden City since the day I got off the plane from Paris last year. That's a rather long time to stay put! But for the first several months here, I had plenty of time for a vacation but no money, and since I got promoted in October I've had the opposite problem. Like I said, though, it hasn't bugged me much. For one thing, I knew the job would involve lots of business travel soon enough.
It's started!
For good measure, I also managed a weekend getaway just before it started. The True Love is in Kuala Lumpur for two weeks on a teaching job, so I flew up after work last Friday to join her for the weekend. Some of my longtime readers will recall that my reaction to KL last time I was there was a bit underwhelmed. I liked it, but not nearly as much as I liked Singapore. That's still the case, but I figure that makes it the perfect destination for a quick getaway.
Of course, my perspective was a bit different this time around, now that I actually live in Singapore. The first thing I noticed when the plane landed? (Well, the very first thing was relief that I'd finally gotten there, as the plane was delayed by two hours. Airasia.com is great for the most part, but very cheap plane tickets don't always come without a non-monetary price!) But after that, the first thing I noticed was all the older cars. By "older" I don't mean "old". I mean "more than five years old and looking like it". Hardly anybody in Singapore ever keeps a car for more than ten years because of very high taxes levied on anyone who does, and Singapore is a much more affluent country than Malaysia. So I knew I wasn't in Singapore anymore when I saw all the not-old-but-older cars. The traffic in downtown KL was a pretty clear sign of that too.
But it was a most enjoyable weekend. I finally made it up to the observation deck of the Petronas Towers (the tickets were gone for the day last time I was there), which is worth the trip. You're only allowed up there for five minutes or so, but there's only so much to see and the tickets are free. The only real drawback is waiting in line for them. While we were in line, I overheard a group of friends behind us speaking French and was somewhat panicked to realize just a year after leaving Paris, I could barely understand a word they were saying. Imagine my relief when (sorry, Pat) I found out they were from Quebec. We got a couple of pictures on the observation deck, although I hated the way I looked in one of them. I really do need to practice my Photo Smile.
Then were off to do our share of window-shopping and fine dining at the slightly-different subset of Western outlets than that found in Singapore. One big advantage KL has over Singapore is that it's a lot cheaper. We also made it to lunch at the local Hard Rock Cafe - one of the less impressive ones I've seen, but at least I can say I've been there. (Amsterdam and Denver are still my favorites, and Paris gets an honorable mention because they have the guitar Jimi Hendrix played on The Tonight Show.) Finally, we visited a street market. I distinctly recall doing just that back in 2004 - it might have even been the same market - and finding the experience underwhelming because it was exactly like the night markets in Taiwan. Since there is nothing quite like that in Singapore, it was quite a bit more of a novelty this time, a welcome walk down memory lane. I also netted a badly-needed new laptop bag.
Wanting to maximize my time with Gyle and away from work, I had bought my return ticket for late afternoon on Sunday. Oops. Luckily the plane was on time this time around. Unluckily, that meant I got back to Singapore at about 8:00. That wouldn't be too bad normally, but I had some practicing to do for the first business trip, which was taking place Monday. So I went to the office at nearly 9:00 on Sunday night and made sure all the bells and whistles were working, only they weren't. Two phone calls and a lengthy wait later (it's a very good thing I like my job as well as I do), I had just enough time to go home and re-pack for Jakarta before bed.
The plane to Jakarta didn't take off until past noon, so at least I was able to make my trip back to the airport fairly liesurely. I got there in plenty of time. The boss, just as characteristically, got there at the last minute and then wanted to go over the website one last time in the terminal. Hey, I wasn't going anywhere just yet anyhow! As workplace drama would have it, we noticed one big error and had to use my personal e-mail account to get in touch with the office to have it fixed because the official e-mail didn't work in the airport for some reason. Then we were off.
Don't worry, the business half of the trip was great. Naturally, that was something of an afterthought to me as we landed in Jakarta, since I'd never been there before. One thing any Westerner who spends time in Singapore is likely to notice is that the locals are terrified of traveling in their neighboring countries. They don't quite say that, of course, but it's easy enough to see that they are from the advice they'll give you. Our marketing consultant warned us repeatedly about how to get through immigration without having to pay bribes by lying about certain things, and if you do get escorted into the back room, just pay the bribe to get out of harm's way, blah blah blah. As it turned out, I was almost glad he'd told us so many horror stories, because the reality was pretty bad (half an hour in line to get my visa!) but not that bad.
Indonesia's visas are among the more attractive ones I've had grace my passport. Pale green and white, and almost worth the wait. As for bribes and bullying guards, I ran into no such thing. More helpfully, we had been told to take only Bluebird or Silverbird taxis as they're the only trustworthy transportation services for foreigners. That, of course, is a pretty valuable resource in a place like Jakarta. Once again on the ride to the hotel, I was reminded how lucky Americans (and Singaporeans) are, as there was poverty everywhere. Nothing I hadn't seen before, but it had been a while since I had seen it. Needless to say, it was a fairly depressing sight and, even had there been time for any tourist activities (which there wasn't), would have taken away any desire to that end by the time we got to the hotel.
On a brighter note, the Hotel Ciputra is quite nice - I highly recommend it - and the local Bintang Beer they served in the lounge went well with our first, informal business meeting with a local friend of the boss'. (If you're thinking it was irresponsible for me to drink in front of the boss, guess who ordered the drinks in the first place?) That success had us both in a good mood when we went to the mall next door - complete with security checkpoints at the doors - for dinner. As it was still fairly early at that point, I might have gone out for a bit of sightseeing in a city I was more familiar with. But not here.
The big meeting was the following afternoon, which meant I had all morning to practice, and practice I did. For an hour or so. The rest of the morning was spent sipping sparkling water and waiting for the boss to turn up. We finally got down to business after lunch. The hardest thing about the meeting was finding the office where it was to be held, which was in a strip-mall where tourists don't usually go. Our first official off-site presentation went great, but there's not a lot I can repeat here (nothing too secretive - it just wasn't that interesting!). It was a big enough success that I will probably be going back there next month to finalize a deal. At least this time I'll know where to find the office. Maybe I'll get to the Hard Rock Cafe then too.
We'd had some concerns about getting back to the airport in time during rush hour, but they were unfounded. (Traffic was awful, but it wasn't very far to go.) Getting out of the country proved a lot easier than getting in, something I hadn't been expecting for some reason. So the first business trip was a pretty good one. I finally got what I signed up for.
It's started!
For good measure, I also managed a weekend getaway just before it started. The True Love is in Kuala Lumpur for two weeks on a teaching job, so I flew up after work last Friday to join her for the weekend. Some of my longtime readers will recall that my reaction to KL last time I was there was a bit underwhelmed. I liked it, but not nearly as much as I liked Singapore. That's still the case, but I figure that makes it the perfect destination for a quick getaway.
Of course, my perspective was a bit different this time around, now that I actually live in Singapore. The first thing I noticed when the plane landed? (Well, the very first thing was relief that I'd finally gotten there, as the plane was delayed by two hours. Airasia.com is great for the most part, but very cheap plane tickets don't always come without a non-monetary price!) But after that, the first thing I noticed was all the older cars. By "older" I don't mean "old". I mean "more than five years old and looking like it". Hardly anybody in Singapore ever keeps a car for more than ten years because of very high taxes levied on anyone who does, and Singapore is a much more affluent country than Malaysia. So I knew I wasn't in Singapore anymore when I saw all the not-old-but-older cars. The traffic in downtown KL was a pretty clear sign of that too.
But it was a most enjoyable weekend. I finally made it up to the observation deck of the Petronas Towers (the tickets were gone for the day last time I was there), which is worth the trip. You're only allowed up there for five minutes or so, but there's only so much to see and the tickets are free. The only real drawback is waiting in line for them. While we were in line, I overheard a group of friends behind us speaking French and was somewhat panicked to realize just a year after leaving Paris, I could barely understand a word they were saying. Imagine my relief when (sorry, Pat) I found out they were from Quebec. We got a couple of pictures on the observation deck, although I hated the way I looked in one of them. I really do need to practice my Photo Smile.
Then were off to do our share of window-shopping and fine dining at the slightly-different subset of Western outlets than that found in Singapore. One big advantage KL has over Singapore is that it's a lot cheaper. We also made it to lunch at the local Hard Rock Cafe - one of the less impressive ones I've seen, but at least I can say I've been there. (Amsterdam and Denver are still my favorites, and Paris gets an honorable mention because they have the guitar Jimi Hendrix played on The Tonight Show.) Finally, we visited a street market. I distinctly recall doing just that back in 2004 - it might have even been the same market - and finding the experience underwhelming because it was exactly like the night markets in Taiwan. Since there is nothing quite like that in Singapore, it was quite a bit more of a novelty this time, a welcome walk down memory lane. I also netted a badly-needed new laptop bag.
Wanting to maximize my time with Gyle and away from work, I had bought my return ticket for late afternoon on Sunday. Oops. Luckily the plane was on time this time around. Unluckily, that meant I got back to Singapore at about 8:00. That wouldn't be too bad normally, but I had some practicing to do for the first business trip, which was taking place Monday. So I went to the office at nearly 9:00 on Sunday night and made sure all the bells and whistles were working, only they weren't. Two phone calls and a lengthy wait later (it's a very good thing I like my job as well as I do), I had just enough time to go home and re-pack for Jakarta before bed.
The plane to Jakarta didn't take off until past noon, so at least I was able to make my trip back to the airport fairly liesurely. I got there in plenty of time. The boss, just as characteristically, got there at the last minute and then wanted to go over the website one last time in the terminal. Hey, I wasn't going anywhere just yet anyhow! As workplace drama would have it, we noticed one big error and had to use my personal e-mail account to get in touch with the office to have it fixed because the official e-mail didn't work in the airport for some reason. Then we were off.
Don't worry, the business half of the trip was great. Naturally, that was something of an afterthought to me as we landed in Jakarta, since I'd never been there before. One thing any Westerner who spends time in Singapore is likely to notice is that the locals are terrified of traveling in their neighboring countries. They don't quite say that, of course, but it's easy enough to see that they are from the advice they'll give you. Our marketing consultant warned us repeatedly about how to get through immigration without having to pay bribes by lying about certain things, and if you do get escorted into the back room, just pay the bribe to get out of harm's way, blah blah blah. As it turned out, I was almost glad he'd told us so many horror stories, because the reality was pretty bad (half an hour in line to get my visa!) but not that bad.
Indonesia's visas are among the more attractive ones I've had grace my passport. Pale green and white, and almost worth the wait. As for bribes and bullying guards, I ran into no such thing. More helpfully, we had been told to take only Bluebird or Silverbird taxis as they're the only trustworthy transportation services for foreigners. That, of course, is a pretty valuable resource in a place like Jakarta. Once again on the ride to the hotel, I was reminded how lucky Americans (and Singaporeans) are, as there was poverty everywhere. Nothing I hadn't seen before, but it had been a while since I had seen it. Needless to say, it was a fairly depressing sight and, even had there been time for any tourist activities (which there wasn't), would have taken away any desire to that end by the time we got to the hotel.
On a brighter note, the Hotel Ciputra is quite nice - I highly recommend it - and the local Bintang Beer they served in the lounge went well with our first, informal business meeting with a local friend of the boss'. (If you're thinking it was irresponsible for me to drink in front of the boss, guess who ordered the drinks in the first place?) That success had us both in a good mood when we went to the mall next door - complete with security checkpoints at the doors - for dinner. As it was still fairly early at that point, I might have gone out for a bit of sightseeing in a city I was more familiar with. But not here.
The big meeting was the following afternoon, which meant I had all morning to practice, and practice I did. For an hour or so. The rest of the morning was spent sipping sparkling water and waiting for the boss to turn up. We finally got down to business after lunch. The hardest thing about the meeting was finding the office where it was to be held, which was in a strip-mall where tourists don't usually go. Our first official off-site presentation went great, but there's not a lot I can repeat here (nothing too secretive - it just wasn't that interesting!). It was a big enough success that I will probably be going back there next month to finalize a deal. At least this time I'll know where to find the office. Maybe I'll get to the Hard Rock Cafe then too.
We'd had some concerns about getting back to the airport in time during rush hour, but they were unfounded. (Traffic was awful, but it wasn't very far to go.) Getting out of the country proved a lot easier than getting in, something I hadn't been expecting for some reason. So the first business trip was a pretty good one. I finally got what I signed up for.
Monday, May 11, 2009
"Misquoted", "Misconstrued", What do they REALLY mean, then?
(Cross-posted at Daily Kos)
If you've read the Salon article about the tea parties by now (and if you haven't, you should), odds are the line borrowed for the title has stuck with you: "On 9/11, I think they hit the wrong building." It's kind of hard to even begin to think of how to respond to that, or to even try, isn't it? In an article full of outrageous and sometimes disgusting comments, that one really stands head and shoulders above (or below, as it were) all else.
But it's not the most telling line in the story. Close, but not quite.
To me, what's most telling is the way the guy who said that prefaced his shocking comment. Here's the whole remark: "I love my country and I don't like what's going on. Government -- to be honest with you, and this will probably be misquoted, but on 9/11, I think they hit the wrong building. They should have gone into the Capitol building, hit out, knocked out both sides of the aisle, we'd start from scratch, we'd be better off today." (Emphasis mine.)
"This will probably be misquoted but". I read and re-read the quote several times, both on its own and in the context of the article, and I was never able to make any real sense of that. How on earth could he expect that comment to be interpreted as anything less than outrageously offensive? The crazy thing is, it probably made perfect sense to him that as long as he attached that disclaimer, he could claim that he wasn't actually saying...well, exactly what he clearly did say. And of course the FoxNewsMax crowd would get it as well. If we say the guy called for destroying the Capitol and killing every member of Congress, well, we're a bunch of namby-pamby liberals and we're misquoting him just like he said we would! As for what he really did mean, well, I couldn't even formulate an educated guess on that one.
But the quote stuck with me all the same, because it sounded familiar. I couldn't quite place where I'd heard that trick before, but I was pretty sure I had. It took a while, but I remembered. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-NC used it to great effect back in 2003: "You know, and this can be misconstrued, but honest to goodness (husband) Ed and I for years, for 20 years, have been saying, `You know, look at who runs all the convenience stores across the country.’ Every little town you go into, you know?"
Okay, so it's not surprising that two right-wingers used the same offensive rhetorical trick six years apart. Or maybe, it is surprising that it's only happened twice in that time (that I've noticed at least). It is, however, telling. Once I remembered the Myrick quote, I found myself also recalling how at the time, I wondered what she could possibly mean by "misconstrued" and I also wondered how that comment could possibly be construed in an inoffensive way. I couldn't think of a way then and I still can't.
Now that I've seen it twice, it's got me wondering if it's a form of dog-whistle politics. "I'm going to say something indisputably offensive, but first I'll warn you that it 'could be interpreted as being offensive' without actually quite saying that, so when The Liberal Media calls me on it, we can say 'Well, he/she told you it could be misinterpreted'." What do you all think? Have you ever heard anybody try to justify those comments, or offer up an inoffensive interpretation, no matter how implausible? Has this actually been going on for decades and I just never noticed?
(Halfway through writing this, it occurred to me that Jerry Falwell's "apology" for his comments about 9/11 sort of fit here too. But he really just implied the "this could be misinterpreted but" rather than saying it, and he only even did that after being rightly criticized for his comments, not while he was making them in the first place.)
If you've read the Salon article about the tea parties by now (and if you haven't, you should), odds are the line borrowed for the title has stuck with you: "On 9/11, I think they hit the wrong building." It's kind of hard to even begin to think of how to respond to that, or to even try, isn't it? In an article full of outrageous and sometimes disgusting comments, that one really stands head and shoulders above (or below, as it were) all else.
But it's not the most telling line in the story. Close, but not quite.
To me, what's most telling is the way the guy who said that prefaced his shocking comment. Here's the whole remark: "I love my country and I don't like what's going on. Government -- to be honest with you, and this will probably be misquoted, but on 9/11, I think they hit the wrong building. They should have gone into the Capitol building, hit out, knocked out both sides of the aisle, we'd start from scratch, we'd be better off today." (Emphasis mine.)
"This will probably be misquoted but". I read and re-read the quote several times, both on its own and in the context of the article, and I was never able to make any real sense of that. How on earth could he expect that comment to be interpreted as anything less than outrageously offensive? The crazy thing is, it probably made perfect sense to him that as long as he attached that disclaimer, he could claim that he wasn't actually saying...well, exactly what he clearly did say. And of course the FoxNewsMax crowd would get it as well. If we say the guy called for destroying the Capitol and killing every member of Congress, well, we're a bunch of namby-pamby liberals and we're misquoting him just like he said we would! As for what he really did mean, well, I couldn't even formulate an educated guess on that one.
But the quote stuck with me all the same, because it sounded familiar. I couldn't quite place where I'd heard that trick before, but I was pretty sure I had. It took a while, but I remembered. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-NC used it to great effect back in 2003: "You know, and this can be misconstrued, but honest to goodness (husband) Ed and I for years, for 20 years, have been saying, `You know, look at who runs all the convenience stores across the country.’ Every little town you go into, you know?"
Okay, so it's not surprising that two right-wingers used the same offensive rhetorical trick six years apart. Or maybe, it is surprising that it's only happened twice in that time (that I've noticed at least). It is, however, telling. Once I remembered the Myrick quote, I found myself also recalling how at the time, I wondered what she could possibly mean by "misconstrued" and I also wondered how that comment could possibly be construed in an inoffensive way. I couldn't think of a way then and I still can't.
Now that I've seen it twice, it's got me wondering if it's a form of dog-whistle politics. "I'm going to say something indisputably offensive, but first I'll warn you that it 'could be interpreted as being offensive' without actually quite saying that, so when The Liberal Media calls me on it, we can say 'Well, he/she told you it could be misinterpreted'." What do you all think? Have you ever heard anybody try to justify those comments, or offer up an inoffensive interpretation, no matter how implausible? Has this actually been going on for decades and I just never noticed?
(Halfway through writing this, it occurred to me that Jerry Falwell's "apology" for his comments about 9/11 sort of fit here too. But he really just implied the "this could be misinterpreted but" rather than saying it, and he only even did that after being rightly criticized for his comments, not while he was making them in the first place.)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Minor complaints
One of the few good things about a long streak of bad luck is that you realize that a lot of annoying things just aren't that important. Since things have turned around pretty well for me since last year, that means I'm easily able to recognize that the right to complain about minor things is really kind of a luxury. Since I haven't had much to say on the blog lately, now is as good a time as any to note a few such things I've noticed about my current home. As with every great place to live, not everything is great. But close enough - usually.
Probably the ultimate Singapore stereotype is that people here are excessively slavish to the rules, down to the letter and common sense be damned. It's always "do exactly what you're told - even if it's not really what you're told after all." I was reminded of this recently when I ordered a coffee at Starbucks. The barista apparently rang up an iced coffee when I had not ordered it iced. When I got to the other end of the counter, the guy there called "Grande iced coffee!"
"I ordered a hot coffee," I told him.
"No, it says iced!"
Oh, well then, my mistake!
I did get my hot coffee, so no hard feelings. But geez.
Life here is extremely efficient, too. Sometimes that means details get lost in the hurry. Sometimes it's worse than that. While out to lunch a few weekends ago, I gave the waiter my order and noticed that he kept jumping in with an "Okay!" before I was actually finished with each part of the order. I knew without a doubt he was going to get something wrong, since he obvously wasn't really listening in his haste. Sure enough, when the drinks arrived, I could see something was wrong. I had ordered two sparkling waters. The sparkling water at that restaurant (like most) always came in bottles, but he had two glasses of what looked like sparkling water.
"Last time, I got a bottle..." I began to enquire.
Again, he was super-quick to the draw. "No! Always in glasses!"
When he'd set the glasses on the table and gone off, I figured out what didn't add up. It wasn't sparkling water, but Sprite. Same first syllable, you see, and he simply hadn't listened to the rest of what I said.
Once again, I did get what I really wanted in the end. But how frustrating is it when you see a problem coming, sense that something is off and try to ask about it, and still end up with a mistake? I was, of course, soon laughing it off as another distinctively stereotypical moment. And I was ever so slightly relieved the waiter had let me speak long enough to explain his mistake. I did have to talk fast.
This one isn't unique to Singapore, but is especially common here with all the malls and hawker centers: I really do not like it when people "camp out" on tables at food courts, leaving their umbrellas or packs of napkins or such to stake their claim to the table while they're off getting their food. I get that it's a competitive society and you've got to do what you've got to do. What does bug me is that someone often gets a table ahead of someone who actually got there first but got straight in line for food. If I get there first with my lunch, that means I probably got to the food court first, which means you can wait your turn.
Not a complaint, but a rather interesting observation: the local Borders accepts Brunei currency. I'm not sure why I find that interesting, but for whatever reason, I do. Last time I was there I asked the cashier if they get much of it, and she said they do. They don't accept currency from Indonesia or Malaysia, even though they're both much bigger and somewhat closer.
Probably the ultimate Singapore stereotype is that people here are excessively slavish to the rules, down to the letter and common sense be damned. It's always "do exactly what you're told - even if it's not really what you're told after all." I was reminded of this recently when I ordered a coffee at Starbucks. The barista apparently rang up an iced coffee when I had not ordered it iced. When I got to the other end of the counter, the guy there called "Grande iced coffee!"
"I ordered a hot coffee," I told him.
"No, it says iced!"
Oh, well then, my mistake!
I did get my hot coffee, so no hard feelings. But geez.
Life here is extremely efficient, too. Sometimes that means details get lost in the hurry. Sometimes it's worse than that. While out to lunch a few weekends ago, I gave the waiter my order and noticed that he kept jumping in with an "Okay!" before I was actually finished with each part of the order. I knew without a doubt he was going to get something wrong, since he obvously wasn't really listening in his haste. Sure enough, when the drinks arrived, I could see something was wrong. I had ordered two sparkling waters. The sparkling water at that restaurant (like most) always came in bottles, but he had two glasses of what looked like sparkling water.
"Last time, I got a bottle..." I began to enquire.
Again, he was super-quick to the draw. "No! Always in glasses!"
When he'd set the glasses on the table and gone off, I figured out what didn't add up. It wasn't sparkling water, but Sprite. Same first syllable, you see, and he simply hadn't listened to the rest of what I said.
Once again, I did get what I really wanted in the end. But how frustrating is it when you see a problem coming, sense that something is off and try to ask about it, and still end up with a mistake? I was, of course, soon laughing it off as another distinctively stereotypical moment. And I was ever so slightly relieved the waiter had let me speak long enough to explain his mistake. I did have to talk fast.
This one isn't unique to Singapore, but is especially common here with all the malls and hawker centers: I really do not like it when people "camp out" on tables at food courts, leaving their umbrellas or packs of napkins or such to stake their claim to the table while they're off getting their food. I get that it's a competitive society and you've got to do what you've got to do. What does bug me is that someone often gets a table ahead of someone who actually got there first but got straight in line for food. If I get there first with my lunch, that means I probably got to the food court first, which means you can wait your turn.
Not a complaint, but a rather interesting observation: the local Borders accepts Brunei currency. I'm not sure why I find that interesting, but for whatever reason, I do. Last time I was there I asked the cashier if they get much of it, and she said they do. They don't accept currency from Indonesia or Malaysia, even though they're both much bigger and somewhat closer.
To err is human, to forgive divine
...but nobody ever called me divine.
Some of you probably remember my rather nasty romantic misadventure a while back. My wounds have healed, of course, and I'm now happily involved with someone else. I don't know what she's up to now and I wish her no ill will. That said, I haven't forgotten how crushing it is to meet someone perfect for you, only to learn she'd rather be with someone she really ought to stay the heck away from. (Yeah, I know, that means she's not perfect for you by definition. Consider it the curse of a really wonderful first date...it does inflate expectations!)
In any case, that experience has had a couple of lasting impacts on me, like any sordid affair will. One of those is that when I hear stories about people messing around with their bosses and ending up in big trouble, I feel a lot less sympathy and a lot more schadenfreude (sp? - hey, I speak French, not German) than I used to. Even in cases where I really know I shouldn't laugh or feel anything but sympathy. Like this one, from right here in Singapore.
I want to feel bad for the both of them. But I keep thinking of what my best friend back in DC used to say when his prudish girlfriend hassled him about his fondness for South Park: "I don't want to like it, but I do!"
Exactamundo.
Some of you probably remember my rather nasty romantic misadventure a while back. My wounds have healed, of course, and I'm now happily involved with someone else. I don't know what she's up to now and I wish her no ill will. That said, I haven't forgotten how crushing it is to meet someone perfect for you, only to learn she'd rather be with someone she really ought to stay the heck away from. (Yeah, I know, that means she's not perfect for you by definition. Consider it the curse of a really wonderful first date...it does inflate expectations!)
In any case, that experience has had a couple of lasting impacts on me, like any sordid affair will. One of those is that when I hear stories about people messing around with their bosses and ending up in big trouble, I feel a lot less sympathy and a lot more schadenfreude (sp? - hey, I speak French, not German) than I used to. Even in cases where I really know I shouldn't laugh or feel anything but sympathy. Like this one, from right here in Singapore.
I want to feel bad for the both of them. But I keep thinking of what my best friend back in DC used to say when his prudish girlfriend hassled him about his fondness for South Park: "I don't want to like it, but I do!"
Exactamundo.
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