The Wilful Sunflower

I feel like Santa Claus today. I got Blink, my brother, a mobile phone and bought small gifts for three friends – not Christmas gifts; “just because” gifts. As in, when they ask, “Why are you giving me a present?”, the answer is, “Just because!” hehee

Blink was supposed to “inherit” my old phone. (That makes me sound positively ancient. That I would have an inheritance to pass on…) The thing is, when I was using it, I had problems with it, which is why I’m no longer using it. That’s only logical, right?

The battery contact was poor and the screen display was a bit temperamental – the display would stop displaying, but it would come back on when I pressed the screen. Minor irritations, but it was otherwise in pretty OK working order. I told Blink he could have the phone coz he’s just entered university and his uni is in some god-forsaken place. He lives in the uni hostel and the hostel doesn’t have a phone (I don’t know how it is in other countries, but in Malaysia you can’t make calls to a public phone), so it’s impossible to contact him unless he has a mobile phone.

So there I was in the telephone shop this afternoon, purchasing a SIM card. In goes the SIM card and then begins The Attempt To Revive The Phone. It just wouldn’t come on! I think its feelings must have been hurt at not being used for two months, so it had gone on strike.

I decided that there was no point negotiating with a stubborn phone like that. Plenty of good working phones where THAT one came from! So I got my bro a brand-new one.

My colleague said, “Wow, you’re such a sweet sister!” Well, I’m the eldest in the family, and I never had anyone to make the way a bit easier for me, or to help me out with stuff and generally look out for me. When I was in college, my roommate’s elder brother would sometimes get things for her or help her out of a spot and I’d wail, “It’s not fair! I don’t have an elder brother!” It was all in jest, but deep down, I meant it.

I’m actually pretty independent by nature, and I’m proud of the fact that I can handle most things on my own. But that’s mostly because I HAVE to. No use flapping about and wishing to be rescued – it ain’t gonna happen! So I cope alone most of the time and don’t mind it too much. Sometimes, though, I do wish I had someone to lean on… but that’s a different story.

(Don’t tell me I should lean on God; I know that! When it comes to practical things, however, I still have to get up and get things done – there’s no one to share the burden with and help lighten the load. That’s what I’m talking about.)

Blink is also pretty independent. But, well, I just want to do what I can for him. When we were kids (and fighting like cats and dogs), Mom would always tell me, “He’s your ONLY brother! You must love him!” I’d retort, “I’m his ONLY sister, and he doesn’t love me!” Of course, it didn’t help that he’s four years younger than I, so Mom always made me give way to him and blamed me for every quarrel. The time-honoured, “He started it!” never cut any ice with her. “He may have started it, but you’re older and supposed to know better than to respond!” Really, I just couldn’t win!

And look where I am now. Obviously Mom’s “You must love him!”s eventually sank in somewhere. Which explains why moms always persist in repeating themselves hundreds of millions of times. It’s a proven method of drilling stuff into their kids’ thick skulls!