A few weeks ago, I was reminded of a particular species of mankind which irks me to no end: The askholes.
Stanley my sex bunny friend who generally is interested in all species of men, was particularly keen on this category.
"Tell me, who are these askholes and what exactly are their strengths? They sound like a very promising breed of men," Stanley said sultrily as he picked up a Uniqlo tee and measured against his chest.
"Nope, too big," decided Stanley.
And since when has that been a problem I thought to myself inwardly.
Stanley shot me a look.
Oh, askholes.
They're generally people who would keep asking others for advice and then they don't take it at the end of the day.
Stanley crunched up his nose and went Ew!
"But these askholes -- they can be cute no?" he added, not wanting to lose hope in humanity.
Not too long ago, I met an ex-colleague who had many things in common with me.
"Is he cute?" Stanley asked hopefully, seizing every opportunity.
Lianne is a junior from university who studied the same course as I did.
Naturally, as political science graduates, we mentally constructed our career paths that would pave the way for jobs in the government or diplomatic service.
"Oooh, I'm always very keen on foreign affairs," Stanley said, giving the word affairs unnecessary emphasis.
And since I see Lianne as an eager junior, who shared an alumni with me as well as having worked for two ministries at the same time, I took it upon myself to be her mentor.
At first, Lianne was indeed very promising.
She would ask me out for coffee and seek my advice on work-related matters -- how to tackle a particular project. My assessment of her weakness and how she can improve. How to sharpen her reports. Whatever.
We met informally but on an average of at least once a month.
After six months, Lianne was not showing any improvements.
I know because my peers complained to me about her, and when asked for examples, I realise they were mistakes I had very specifically taught her to avoid.
Then it came to a point when I asked myself: Is she just stupid, or is she trying to create an illusion of how eager to learn she is?
I mean, there's no other reason I could think of other than the fact that she's an askhole.
After deliberately distancing myself from her (I had the perfect excuse due to work commitments), we reconnected late last year.
And because she was getting married soon, she asked me for financial advice -- such as how to grow my money, my thoughts on property, my views on how to maximise both her and her husband's combined income.
Out of my kind heart, I shared with her all the financial life hacks, from saving and investment tips to ways to maximise SQ miles.
And it was a super tedious process because I made an effort to find her relevant links and catered the advice to her.
Lo and behold, I was to find out from another common friend afterwards that Lianne didn't act on anything I said.
In fact, that common friend's peeve with her was exactly that too: That she's an askhole.
"Next time, pick your battles," Stanley said as he set his purchases into the self-checkout box at Uniqlo.
"If it's worth your time to groom, you groom. Don't waste your time," he said.
"And you better not be an askhole yourself -- I've said my piece and you must not ignore it," said Stanley.
I don't know if I should heed his words.
For someone whose idea of grooming can land him first in the bedroom and then the courtroom, I'm not fully confident I can trust Stanley.
I guess sometimes, one has to be an askhole in life.
Adam's stories are based on real life events and inspired by real people
No comments:
Post a Comment