A Wedding Dinner
On Sunday night, I saw two ex-colleagues get married. They held their wedding reception at Orchard Hotel. They had been courting for many years, and we all shared a sense of relief when we heard about this wedding.
I had the fortune to be stuck on the same table as the director of my previous company. He’s a highly placed executive at a local statutory board, and a couple of the colleagues had joined him there.
They were all sitting at the same table as me, and as his habit was, they all took out papers and started discussing about this business trip the next day. It was a little uncomfortable, if not plain rude. During the entire duration (about 30 minutes), conversation on the table was stifled, and the rest of us started to look around to other tables to catch up.
The Director sported a large PDA, one of the newer Ipaqs. After his serious business was over, I asked him a few innocuous questions about the wireless features of his new toy. It was amusing how it fired him up, and started on a lengthy spiel on how Bluetooth allowed him to connect to his handphone and to send information seamlessly. That occupied him for the best part of 30 minutes, and it tickled me for some reason.
On the other table, one of the older colleagues shared how he was going to run the marathon. I was mildly surprised - a forty-three year old man could muster the resolve to undertake this feat.
I recalled years ago he had talked to me and borrowed some of my books on running. He was much different then - younger, heavier and more passionate (especially about food). Now, he appeared thinner, and a little quieter. But I see he has not lost his passion - its just focussed on a different endeavour.
I always enjoy catching up with old friends, to see how much some people have changed, and how some have not.