Cut or Uncut

A lot of significant events unfolded for me in early 2018.

I was preparing to uproot after accepting a new overseas job offer.

And my sex bunny friend Stanley was still out of job after being retrenched (read it here).

Up until December 2017, Stanley was so serious about chasing his dreams that he would sleep in to do just that.

But all this was about to change.

Stanley's new year resolution for 2018 was to buck up, stop moping around and nail a job.

It can't be that hard, Stanley would say.

If I can still get a blow job at this age, there's hope for getting a job.

I didn't know what to make of Stanley's logic but I was happy he pulled himself out of his rut. 

In February 2018, Stanley's months of job hunting finally paid off.

An MNC had officially hired Stanley and his life was, just like that, back on track.

"It feels 10 times better than a Tinder match, trust me," Stanley said excitedly to Carl and me that night, breaking the news.

It was such good news that there and then, we decided on our third serving of Soju.

We left that task to Stanley who found the American-accented Korean waiter irresistibly cute.

The three of us were at a crowded and smoky Korean restaurant at Tanjong Pagar (so that we can easily pop by E-bar, Carl's favourite gay bar in the whole wide world).

And as our third bottle of Soju arrived, Stanley beamed at the cute waiter and said "thank you for bringing us your Korean juice, which makes me very happy indeed."

The youthful waiter let out a loud, hearty laugh as if he had hoped it would drown out Stanley's lust.

"Thank you, thank you," I said to the waiter, taking over the soju bottle.

He looked at me with gratitude in his eyes, and left thankfully, happy that the hunger emitting from Stanley is temporarily confined to the table of Korean food (rice cake, ginseng soup, marinated pork belly, beef slices and a whole plethora of side dishes designed at helping people put on weight).

"A toast," Carl said, raising his tiny glass with his veiny arms, a by-product of heavy iron-pumping at Fitness First.

"May you have a good career," Carl ventured. "And you must tell me what you do for a living again," Carl told Stanley, his long-time friend of 20 years.

Stanley responded by smilingly patting Carl on the back, a gesture that said it's okay, let's just move on pal.

Carl our friend is indeed dense.

During a Christmas party game some years ago, Carl revealed to us that, up till he was 27, he had always thought that the Japanese had invaded Singapore for 20 years, during WWII.

As we continued feasting on our Korean dinner, Stanley supplied us with more info on his job.

He would get back to doing what he used to do - but the catch is, he'd taken a pay cut.

Carl slumped his shoulders instinctively at that detail.

"It's not that bad," I said, "considering that your last drawn was really quite high already."

"My last drawn. You'll have to be specific, Adam," Stanley said, raising one eyebrow. "Because that could refer to my activity last night - and if you were, then yes, you're right. It's quite substantive."

Carl choked on his piece of meat on hearing that.

Stanley nodded at him and said "yes, hunny. That was me last night. Me and that big chunk of meat."

Later that evening, as a tipsy Carl belted out a Mando ballad with feeling at E-bar, Stanley signalled me out to join him for a smoke break.

In all-serious mode, Stanley confessed that he was only half happy with his new job.

Sure, he's thankful for this opportunity but to earn S$800 less, that's something.

"It's a big blow to me," Stanley said, adding "and trust me, I can handle big blows. But this pay cut, I'm not so sure."

I told Stanley that I know how that must feel, but I need not add further.

I'm confident that Stanley had it all sorted out.

After all, money isn't his priority.

For him, it's more important that he can find a job which he can do well, and loves at the same time.

And to be one of the marketing team leads at a big MNC, that's an offer Stanley couldn't resist.

Carl's vocals - now working on a different Mando ballad - flowed out of E-bar as the door opened and closed.

"You know, Carl is really in his element at E-bar," Stanley said. "With that beautiful singing voice of his, he's certainly found some true fans here."

Then he adds seriously.

"And I now love E-bar too. Because for the last so many months of my joblessness, you and Carl have been spending so much time with me here to cheer me up. 'Cos I have my true friends here."



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Adam's stories are based on real life events and inspired by real people