Why do people pigeon-hole? Someone is either friendly or introverted or funny or boring. We tend to attach labels to people depending on which type of behaviour we observe most often when we are close to them.
I think one of the most exciting things in life is the myriad number of ways in which we can surprise our friends and even ourselves by doing things which we never expected to do - sometimes positively by finding strength which we never knew existed, other times negatively by slipping to levels we never knew we could sink to. In a way, in either situation, we find ourselves pushing our limits and stepping beyond our boundaries. Our ability to do that, I think, is a large part of what makes life worth living.
Now, the Slug. The title of my blog draws a large part of its inspiration from my friend Jac, whose blog The Slog Reviews (www.theslogreviews.blogspot.com)has given me something to do on many a dreary day (not least of all when I'm clock-watching in the office).
Jac though tells me she makes a conscious effort to focus on things and activities which she does - vacations, trips, food, movies, food, books, fishing trips...have I mentioned food? All very respectable stuff - things an upstanding young professional can look to doing and telling their friends, and -this is the acid test- bosses about.
Don't get me wrong, I like doing all that stuff as well. I also like reading, plays, musicals and band or orchestral concerts. Nothing snobbish about that, no attempt whatsoever to be uppity but you can't help but feel that these are hobbies you would feel quite comfortable talking about sitting across the table at a formal dinner hosted by your girl/boyfriend's family. "Oh, actually no, Uncle. I haven't really read the classics. I'm much more into contemporary stuff. Jeffrey Archer. Ah yes, I have... The whole series actually".
No one expects you on the first meeting to say, "Well, actually my real passion is sports and the excitement the odd (and sometimes even) flutter gives me. It's not so much the betting but the satisfaction of having successfully analysed the match-up and the odds. Yup, I like to go to the turf club...Sorry? Yes, of course I've been to Marina Bay Sands and-- Oh no, it's not expensive. When you're on an annual pass you only pay $2,000 for unlimited trips and -- Wha-? Oh no, I don't really like Resorts World, too few non-commissioned Baccarat tables and---"
******
"B-but why Uncle, can't I go out with Grace? I mean-- Yes, OF COURSE, I am interested in my career. I am legal counsel in an-- You would prefer her to hang out with someone with proper interests? But OF COURSE I agree... But IN ADDITION to liking all the things which you like, I like to do all the stuff I've just talked about..."
******
So you see, like casino table games - must be an incorrigible gambler. Like watching horse races - are you a bookie or a runner? Like watching S.League matches - are you all right up there?
On the other hand, and I might be wrong, but few people ever have a problem with young executives hitting the pubs till late on a Friday night, at taking an avid (and sometimes more intense) interest in stocks and shares or speculating in bonds, unit trusts or derivatives.
My blog hopes to delve into areas that Jac's blog seldom treads upon. (All those who read her blog - remember the hound race in Vietnam? Yeah, that was with me). It hopes to look into the distractions, sometimes obsessions, that we all turn to as we from time to time seek some escape from the monotonous slog which Jac so articulately encapsulates in her blog. But where she focuses on the slog, I hope to focus on the slug in all of us, that part of our personna which likes to idle, rest, dream, cut corners, bend the rules a bit, take the easy way out and yes, from time to time, make a quick buck.
And yes, back to the word Slug. I believe that even in so seemingly simple a word lies a possible root to so many meanings.
Slug - A garden animal that feeds on leaves. Doesn't move a lot a lot of the time.
Slug - Slang for a bullet. Obviously it moves very fast
Slugger - A fighter who slugs it out is someone who can take the beatings and hang in there and hit back over a prolonged period of time
And that is what I think I am - what most people are - a bundle of dynamic interests, likes, dislikes and motives which are not always rational or consistent. That is what I would like to be - I like my own idle time to lie down and do nothing (yes, I enjoy that a lot). I would also like to be able to move fast and decisively like a bullet when the situation dictates. And I would also like to prevail in a battle of attrition, showing endurance and determination.
Like the word Slug, there are many facets to me, to life. And I feel sorry for those who do not realise that about themselves or those around them.
