Wind In My Head: A Plague on Both Your Houses
Wind In My Head
Friday, October 08, 2004
A Plague on Both Your Houses
So, being married doesn't just mean you share a life together. It means you share a house together and everything in the house, including the germs.Surprise surprise. I'm sick too. Not as dire as Dan's, since I have super levels of antioxidants, but still sick nonetheless. And it kinda feels really miserable because not only am I sick, he's still sick and up to his eyes in marking as am I. So, two people in the same predicament aren't exactly what the doctor ordered.
But that's what it is.
The marking still hasn't been too bad. There haven't been gems like Kay's, but sometimes amusing enough. I need to finish about 20 essays a day in order to get all done by next weekend. I should be grateful though. One of the teachers that was supposed to be part of this marking crew lost all the marbles over the last few days and because of that, we were faced with the possibility of actually marking more than what we are required to. But thank God for small favours that we don't although I wouldn't like to be the teacher who's desperately, on all fours looking for all her marbles now.
We never figured that all those tales were true, about how teachers were the most likely to suffer from depression and the second most likely to become alcoholic (behind the poor dentists who look into your mouth and use small sharp implements to scrap food out from between the teeth). I guess, there would have had to be some element of truth in it, otherwise it wouldn't have been said, but I guess it was just one of those things that happens to other people, that you hear of. It's not really supposed to happen to someone who sits a couple of cubicles away from you.
Everyone said there were signs, but I guess, it's easy to ignore when everyone is as busy as we usually are but then again, I suppose we also have no excuse to ignore the plight of a fellow human being, much like the guy who fell at the Island Club some days ago, shouldn't have been ignored for a good 20 minutes before he was helped.
Anyway, she's on leave now, hopefully she'll have time to recuperate, as will we when this madness is over. It's bad for me to say this so early seeing that today's the first day marking and the week leading up to it, I'd been feeling terribly guilty not doing anything when I knew I should have been (actually, there wasn't much for me to do and nothing much I could do about certain things).
Dan thinks I'm too much of a control freak and that I'm too much of a doer. I need to do things. I can't sit back and wait for things to happen. It just isn't me to sit back. That's why this time is hard for me- not just the marking but everything happening now. I have no patience for things to happen on their own. If I had my way, I would cajole it and move it along. Unfortunately, it's out of my hands and I just need patience and faith, something that I'm struggling hard with, together with restlessness, fatigue and this gnawing feeling in my tummy that makes me think I'm going to spew.
Some days just aren't meant to be spent awake. But even the dreamscape possesses too many nightmares. Perhaps, I should start looking for my marbles too.
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Can I count on you, S'pore?
An injured man was left lying for 20 mins
at the Singapore Island Country Club before help came. Are Singaporeans
heartless? The New Paper puts this to the test with help of an actor who
pretends to faint in 3 busy areas
By Teh Jen Lee jenlee@sph.com.sg">jenlee@sph.com.sg
Pictures/ ZAIHAN MOHD
YUSOF
ARE Singaporeans heartless?
After all, when Mr Alan Wong injured
himself in a fall and lay face down in the rain outside Singapore Island Country
Club, it was 20 minutes before anyone came to help. At least four people passed by, he said, before club staff helped him get up. Was Mr Wong unlucky, or would the same thing happen to anyone, anywhere?The New Paper asked amateur actor Jace Lee, 25, to pretend to faint at several places last week, to see how quickly people would react.
ORCHARD ROAD: Three minutes
First stop: Orchard Road, outside Takashimaya shopping centre
at 5.30pm.
When Mr Lee staggered and fell on the walkway, at least six people froze like the painted lions nearby. And they stayed frozen. Tourists and locals alike gawked. Questions like 'Eh, what happened?' flew fast and furious. 'Is that guy for real?'asked a cleaning lady, who immediately approached a security guard. A few people stopped to ask if he was okay - but we felt someone should actually help him to his feet to be considered a true good samaritan.About 40 or 50 people slowed down, stopped or gawked - some asked if he was okay- and moved on.
It was only three minutes later that Indonesian tourist Yuli Andriani squatted close to him and repeatedly asked 'Are you okay?' until he stirred. She helped him to a seat, concern etched all over her face.Even after we explained that it was a set-up, she was still worried and asked Mr Lee: 'Do you want something to drink?'
Asked why she went to help, the 44-year-old, who's here for her daughter's medical check-up, said: 'It's human to want to help. I was not thinking of anything else.'
Why didn't others help? Street surveyor Jesvin Kaur, 24, and her friends circled, but hesitated to do more.'Twice I have seen mentally unstable people fall down, but when I went close, they came at me with arms flailing. That's why I held back. Plus I could see his hands moving. If he'd still been like that after a few minutes, I wouldhave called the ambulance,' she said.
RAFFLES PLACE: Immediate help
At the next location, Raffles Place, help came immediately.
At 6.30pm, people were streaming past the OUB Centre building and manyappeared to be in a hurry.But when Mr Lee collapsed, three people immediately stopped to help him stand up.Miss Di Ser, 24, a secretary, was especially spontaneous.Although she was rushing to make a 6.45pm class a good 10-minute walk away, she didn't hesitate to stop.
Unlike passers-by at Orchard Road who seemed nervous about getting too close to Mr Lee, she was not afraid to turn him over. She said: 'If you see someone just fainting like that, I think your first reaction is to see if he's okay. I had to help, he was right beside me. It would have been impossible for me to just walk away.' It's the second time someone has fainted near her. 'The first time others helped. It wasquite long ago but I still remember,' said Miss Ser, who is not trained in first aid.
What if Mr Lee had been dressed shabbily and reeking of alcohol? Miss Ser said: 'I will still pull up a drunkard. But I'll probably need someone else to help me because I'm not that strong.'
CLEMENTI MRT: Immediate help
Our third and final stop - a bus stand outside Clementi MRT station.
At 7.20pm, the heartland hub was bustling with people eating, shopping or simply heading home. For five minutes, Mr Lee sat with his head in his hands. But when he fell on the ground, those who were sitting near him did not immediately respond. Instead, it was those walking past who helped him up.
Ms Cynthia Low, 45, an admin executive, started applying medicated oil on Mr Lee's temples and offered to let him keep the bottle. When we explained the situation and asked why she helped, she said: 'Who knows? One of these days, you may also need people to help you, right?'So the The New Paper experiment seemed to suggest that Singaporeans are not so very unkind.Mr Lee himself was glad that people responded. 'I expected to lie there for 20 minutes. Those in their 20s and above seem more caring, while the youngsters were more 'bochap' (uncaring, in dialect).'People might think there are others who will help, so they don't stop. But what if everyone thinks like that?'
Ondine tossed this thought in at 23:24
1 thoughts...
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At 12:11 am
儒 said... "We never figured that all those tales were true, about how teachers were the most likely to suffer from depression and the second most likely to become alcoholic"
actually its funny i saw this on your blog because i think i *fitted* the description. During the 2nd week of marking on the monday, i went to the doctor's and got told that i've got a classic case of depression because i suffered from all the symptoms. and the drinking part i guess you can figure it out for yourself. :-) thank goodness it looks like i will be taking a break from this job from next year.