Some time ago, I came across an interesting article about friends, relatives, backgrounds and cultures. Interestingly enough the Scots, except for Mary Queen of Scots and William Wallace (they both get killed for some other reasons), came in as the most unwelcomed list of people. They are notorious for sneaking into your house / apartment / hut unannounced and will expect you to treat them will all courtesies including a hot supper and some warm whiskies before hitting the sheets in your newly refurnished bedroom. An Englishman having suffered so much from the frequent ‘conveniences’ decided on one last measures, he torched his own house to stop these uninvited Scots once and for all. 
Coming in close at the second place is none other than the Jewish. You may have read why people of this race were shot, gassed or hung by the Nazi. What they hadn’t bothered were the details as to why such measures were singularly brought up just for the single race of Jews. According to unreliable researchers from the lesser known University of Frankfart, an unofficial archive suggested that the Jews were killed primarily for seeking refuge and overstaying in domiciles of their hosts. In this case, sadly, the hosts were the Nazi. 
I am pretty sure there are also strings of stories from other unwelcome races in our daily life. Somehow some of us are extremely tolerant, giving excuses like…..well they haven't visited us since Neil Armstrong landed on the moon and when grandpa was still alive and kicking. Some are less fortunate and with their tolerance level up to their necks like…..say honey how’s that your good friend is always in the house whenever we decided on a sumptuous dinner??? I don’t wish to attribute such remarks as unsociable but rather the theory of relativity of institutional insane relatives/friends.
You may think the recent US presidential election is a tricky racial to resolve but not until you have experienced Mrs. Yin visit to her son’s apartment. Admittedly, there weren’t debates, US$150K costumes or even a slight suggestive wink. But since both events occurred around the same time, the two events are pretty much on a par in terms of complexity. You just can’t avoid seeing Obama or McCain on TV, and so is Mrs. Yin. They would be debating and she would be sweeping right in front of you, or constantly having something to wash in the washing machine.
This past two weeks marked the first ever short trip by my mother. Contrary to what many would thought as an intentional short trip (not my mother, she would want a stay equaling to $ per day, and $ meaning in terms of Vietnam dongs), it was duly interrupted by my brother’s carefully planned trip home. Yup, you got it, unfortunately the best planner since Christ, a trip planned 6 months ahead without even consulting any of us. Say…..would it be that difficult to say …….“hey, I am coming AGAIN and I am going to trouble you AGAIN”. Pretty unfortunate as my family spreads between Australia crossing Singapore and Malaysia to Hong Kong and with some left-overs in China, and the advents in high speed technology is not something some of us would indulge.
We don’t meet up with each other often although on some occasions we do, mostly at weddings and………. I am not going to say it out. Sadly this is the case. When we don’t meet up, we missed each other but when we do we are likely to end up quarrelling and arguing over trivial matters……mostly to do with $. Indeed, such is the trend of having a geographically spread families. I am not saying I am not fond of them nor would I say I am elated to have their presence. I can only say I can cope with relatives visits once in a blue moon…..perhaps on occasions when I am truly feeling blue and lonely. Such mode can only occur once per century to be more precise………or absence makes the heart grow fungus.
No, actually we got on really well. So well, we remained tolerant against each other’s shortcomings and welcoming any unwelcome unannounced trips, planned or unplanned. You see, by the time we are exposed to so many undignified experiences we realized that extreme portion of patience and tolerances remained vital to maintain family harmonies, or …….it may seemed the case.
Anyway, I am writing this blog for my dear older ‘blur’ brother (oh yes, your kind younger sister’s word, not mine!), with the hope that he will not visit her for a lengthy over-extended stay. Her son, according to her own judgment, is a late rusher when it comes to exam preparation. Anyway, he is probably just about to start organizing his first major milestone in his quest for education. Leaving him alone is probably a good idea! What do you think, Mr. Unplanned Planner?
No comments:
Post a Comment