Chapter 3: Sleepless Sunday Nights

Ah wells, those sleepless sunday nights are a thing of the past, at least until I get a proper job or school starts. Now, the only reason I can't sleep at night would be cos I sleep too much in the afternoon. yay.

Still, memories of those nights have taught me a great deal. (don't be fooled into thinking this sentence connects logically with the sentences below.)

a) Uncertainty is a multiplier of fear

Often, when you step back and think, you'd realise there's nothing to be afraid of, for example, if you're late or didn't do an assignment or misplaced an isac card (computer card in army), there's actually nothing much to it. Or in basic camp, when the most for a minor offence was push-ups, there was nothing much to fear. But uncertainty loomed and we were all scared shitless. We should all learn to embrace fear, and I recommend Harold and Kumar go to Guantanamo Bay

b) Stupidity is good

When you're universally acknowledged to be incompetent, everyone lowers their expectations of you, and that is good. Because at least in NS, dignity doesn't count for anything, cos you don't have any to begin with. Like that time I had a free off cos I went for a medical appointment on the wrong day.

c) Work is never-ending, but life isn't

Usually, we forget this fact when we are swamped, when the boss is squeezing the balls. We fail to realise that all his ball-squeezing are for his benefit and not us. Anyway, i've known from experience that starting work early has absolutely no correlation with ending work early, so it really doesn't hurt to take a nap in the morning, and then again in the afternoon.

d) Slack jobs are not always the best

As an enlightened guy in my camp said, you might sleep so much you just don't wake up.

e) Shit falls on Fridays

This is an immutable fact. Shit never came in so many forms and flavors as on a Friday afternoon. So make sure you get your ass covered. Don't ask me I don't know how, if I knew I wouldn't have been the last one leaving the camp for so many Fridays.

f) You think you own a handphone. Guess what? The handphone owns you now.

Has your heart been conditioned so that it drops like a stone when your handphone rings? If so, you are officially the property of your handphone and the slave of the evil forces that lurk on the other end. Evil forces that have the power over your weekends. Somebody should really do a comic about this.

And that's all for this chapter. About one more chapter to go!