Diet II

I believe in karma. There's definitely retribution... and then there's instant retribution.

Just two days after last posting about diets and pondering why girls could never stand up to peer pressure, I found out why.

Interestingly enough, the day had begun quite well. A few hours into school, I noticed a friend of mine who kept staring at me. I tried to ignore it at first - after all, I long ago reasoned that being scrutinized in public like a zoo exhibit was a small price to pay for being criminally good-looking.

Imagine my surprise, however, when my friend suddenly quipped, "Hey, did you do anything over the weekend? For some reason you look damn good today."

Of course, even though I had condemned superficiality with conviction on a number of occasions, what was to stop my little heart from brimming with joy? Oh, but for my strict self-imposition of humility I would have sprouted wings and fluttered away!

In my opinion, the praise was no less diminished (no matter what my other friends say) by the fact that the astute friend in question was Jared. A guy, just in case you haven't had the pleasure of meeting him.

(It didn't count, my other friends maintained, if the person who praised you wasn't a girl. You want to look good to girls, not guys!

Desist in that line of reasoning, I replied. Jared is good-looking, that's been established. If you were a learner driver, would you rather be praised for your skills by your mother, or the driving instructor?)

But the happiness was not to last. Shortly after, I met a female JC classmate, who took one look at me and said, in her own words, "Sorry Hanting, but I've got to say this. You look like you've... gotten bigger."

I like to think that if I had met my female classmate before Jared, this post would never have come to pass. But in meeting Jared first, my ego had been set up for a bigger roasting at the subsequent bon-fire. Therefore, there are divine forces at work, hence instant retribution.

Sorry to all the ladies out there. It is nigh impossible to brush peer pressure off like nothing, and we all have our moments of fallibility. You are forgiven for skipping the occasional meal.

THERE I HAVE SAID IT I HAVE ABSOLVED MYSELF. NOW LET ME BE.