Confessions of A Couch Potato

My wife always used (she still does) to crib about the way I would just plonk myself on the bean bag and not move for anything be it food, phone-call or to get the door. My logic was that I needed to catch up on all the news and since I had no time to read through all sections of the newspaper, the boob-tube was my window to the world.

I admit! After living in denial for the larger part of my life, it’s time to come clean. Not that I wanted to or the fact that I can’t (physically) hide it anymore. I have realised this over the past one week that I spent at home.

In all fairnesss I was unwell. However, the liking I took to the bean bag continued well into the extended weekend (Courtesy: Pongal) and made me realise that I have all the symptoms of one!

Not only did I watch all the re-runs that they telecast through the week, I also caught up on the ones I missed on the all day marathons over the weekend. And here’s how it dawned; by the end of the 5th day at home I noticed that I had the container full of snacks within an arms length, a jug of water, all the remotes (TV/Set Top Box/VCD Player and the Satellite Radio remotes) right next to me, ofcourse both the landline and the handphones were within reach and handy, I did not bolt the front-door just so I could holler “It’s open” should anybody have knocked. The only redeeming factor was though I had the strongest urge I’ve ever had to order a pizza and coke, I abstained. OK! The truth is I would have succumbed to that too had wifey dearest not reminded me of my recent bout of illness!!

Well, the couch potato test at http://www.queendom.com/tests/minitests/fx/couch_potato.html put to rest all doubts that I had.

On a serious note, I read a report that says that the anticipated economic gains in terms of increased tourism and purchases by hosting the Commonwealth Games at Melbourne this time will be offset by the possibility that a sizeable portion of the population would stay back home and watch the games and would thus stop spending or spend less while they put their feet up and watched the Games — “the couch potato effect."

Whoever said that sitting back home watching TV didn't hurt anybody better think again!!

On Resolutions

Yeah..yeah we've made resolutions more often than we care to...and surely much more often than we've lived upto.

Every December, the promise that the new year holds is overwhelming. I guess the optimist in us always believes that the best is yet to come. What if life already is as good as it gets???

Then again, there's this part of us which believes that we should change somethings about ourselves. Always felt that resolutions are about undoing conscious choices made by us. Like stop drinking, quit smoking, reduce weight, find another job....(Guess all these would figure on the "Top Ten Most Popular New Year Resolutions".

Personally, I have come to the conclusion that resolving to do something is putting undue pressure on self. Furthermore, announcing the list in public is plain suicide.

Read somewhere that "realisation" is half atonement. So realising about things that are not right with your life is half the job done. Problem is...it's the easy half.

The more difficult half is actually changing and setting things right. But hey! Rome was'nt built in a day, was it??

As someone once said "I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better."

So here's to change!!!

Playin Hookie

How often have you called in sick at work? Well, I don't know why but I think that maybe "I am not feeling too well" or "Am down with a fever" somehow do not seem weighty enough in front of your office folks to merit a day off. The "Take Care!" from your colleagues sounds more cautionary than concerned.

The problem is you might have used up the "Not Keeping Well" routine some time i.e. the day you just wanted to stay back home and watch the match... or the morning after the night when you went partying and you just could'nt kick the hangover in time to make it to work...

Like they say the problem with lying is that you MUST HAVE a great memory in order to remember what you told and to whom the last time round. The highest level of this "art form" is when you start knocking your folks off! Once again a problem coz you need to keep track of the imaginary branches of your (or your wife's) family tree that you keep chopping off!

So the next time you're faced with a dilemma of what to tell the folks at work when you really aren't well? Go for the truth ! But ofcourse, this time the detailing comes automatically...the sore throat, the coughing bout....it really works. Amazing thing is that you end up on a guilt trip the day you are actually telling the truth!!!

So is Playing Hookie really worth it?? Well, if you could do it when you were in school, why not now? If being mature and responsible means loosing spontaneity, then growing up is no fun.

All of us have risen beyond the call of duty many a time, working late hours, working holidays and postponing vacations. So, go ahead, you've earned your stripes.

Being responsible does not mean not playing hookie...it only means knowing when to.