Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Am I The 'Bad Company"

As I was driving to my Cafe this morning, I was glued to this radio station 92.9 Hitz. fm. The DJs, Rudy and JJ are really really good. Very entertaining. Very original. This morning they were getting listeners to call in and chat or comment about 'nasty neighbours'. I thought the idea was great. These days we hardly mingle with our neighbours especially when we live in upper class or upper middle class areas. Its bad to the extent that we sometimes don't even know their names. Anyway, what got me was when one of the DJs mentioned that if we do not have anything to say, it might be that we are that 'nasty neighbour'. How interesting! We almost always think that the others are the ones that are irritable, inconsiderate, unfriendly etc etc etc. not us.
This brought me back to the time when I just finished my form 3 exam. My friends, Primus, Koon Hong, Herbert, the late Sivalingam, Chee Keong and me of course were discussing something along the same lines as what JJ and Rudy was discussing this morning on Hitz. fm. The difference was we were discussing about mixing with 'bad company'. Koon Hong, the Rehman Rashid of the group, said, 'You know, my mother always reminds me not to mix with bad company in school'. Then he laughed and added, 'If only she knew that we are the bad company'.
But those were school days. Yet the same applies in adulthood. Someone once said if you want big fleas, hang out with big dogs. Nicely said. Motivational gurus constantly remind us of the importance of 'hanging out' with the right people. To be involved in a motivating and inspiring relationship group. To pick their brains, and to let our minds be stimulated by associating with them. The book of Proverbs has a wonderful saying..'In a multitude of counselors there is safety'. Yet even as humans, we have our short-comings. But never be disheartened. Just take the best and leave the rest. Be a sponge and absorb as much the wisdom of the wise.
Having said all that, the question is, 'Are we the kind of person others seek out to be with' or specifically, 'Am I the person others seek out to be with". Or am I the 'nasty neighbour' or the 'bad company'.

11 comments:

J.T. said...

Well, I hope that I am the kind of person or the person others seek out to be with. I try to be the best person I can but sometimes it is not enough for some people. One man's meat is another man's poison.

I believe that when we identify our neighbour as nasty, we may be talking about ourselves too. It takes on to know one. For every action, there is a reaction. :)

shar101 said...

There's an old saying that goes "You only know who your friends are when you're down and out".

I find that rather old fashion if not downright stupid.

Because if you don't know who your friends are when you're riding high, you're definitely in the wrong company or you're the wrong person to be with.

Anywayz, if you did work very hard to achieve your climb up the status quo, be just as smart to find 'good and loyal' friends.

*How's body language, bro and thanks for dropping by at OBE*

tony -stand-up philosopher said...

Hi Shar101,
Darn right bro. When we're ok, we have all the parasites hanging around. We don't want them to hang around till we're 'dead' before they hop to someone else. Can smell them a mile away. I always ask myself if I'm the parasite.

Hi JT,
I'm back. Posting from my cafe. House pc kong la. Sometimes I don't blame the neighbours. I have friends and relatives coming to visit sometimes and they park their cars right in front of the neighbour's gate. Of course that guy is going to flip when he comes back. And we have the odesity to complain about the neighbour. We are the culprits la sometimes.

tony -stand-up philosopher said...

JT,
Oops sori bout the 'au-da-city' (odecity) spelling.
hahahah

zorro said...

Notice in any organisation, one group I call the boo-boys and boo-girls...they attract each other and are mostly seen together. These are the people who are never happy, never satisfied, never agreeable and never positive. Steer clear of these or you will be a boo-member. Once in their group, forget about personal development....easier to criticise than to praise. Knowing you, you are not in that group...you belong to the rah-group.My two and a half sens worth. Shar not very pleased with you....everytime the door opens, he is expecting you...or is it your body language?

tony -stand-up philosopher said...

Master zorro sir, you and mrs zorro were the company my schoolmates (mentioned in my post)and me constantly sought then and still do today.
As for the rah-group, it reminds me of our school anthem.....onward to victory, RAH! RAH! That's my rah-group.
And Shar, don't worry. In the not too distant future, when the door opens in npc, there will be 2 BODYs walking in. One will be
b... language and the other, the 'short-form'. Hahahahaha

Anonymous said...

Yup,

Blame it on the BigDog again! BigDog, big problems.....whatever.............

Seriously, we consciously pick our friends. So, we must deserve our friends. We have the choices of being alone and focus on our families, but we enjoy our friends, sometime a little bit too much more than our families what us to be.

Unless we want to treat our friends like we treat our dogs; a obedient companion with one track mind. Then we ought to be looking for these sort of people as a friends.

Practically, life's full of sugar and spices, lemon and bittergourd. Its how we order our food.

BigDogs & LittleDoggies, will hv their bark, ever so often. The don't bite, they just bark. That's what makes our lives more colourful, with these sort of mongrels running around and about us.

Stay sharp!

tony -stand-up philosopher said...

Hi BigDog,
Wow an honour having you visit my blog. Well I'm one of those guys looking for big fleas so you know why la I hang out with you guys...as much as I can.
cheers bro.

Unknown said...

Tony and dear commentators...wow...kindda agree with y'all...but can't help wondering too...

I just hope people accept me the way I'm and not expect me to please them the way they want it to...

cheers, bro.

Anonymous said...

As I get older I find myself looking out for people I feel comfortable with and people who inspire me with their thoughts and actions, and people who look at the bright side of life because there is so much misery out there already, with people stabbing each other just to get one step ahead in the rat race.
And it's people like you guys - stand up (and mrs), zorro (& mrs), bigdog, shar, etc - that i truly enjoy being because you guys inspire me.
btw, stand up: only two days ago i was telling someone in my office about THE "C juice" joke.

tony -stand-up philosopher said...

thanx anonymous,
nothing is more gratifying than to know that your life can be an inspiration to at least someone in this world.That is why I try to master jokes like the 'C juice' joke. It helps in bringing laughter to friends and they'll never forget you for that.