3/4, 1/4 and 0
Sunday, May 28, 2006
3/4, 1/4 and 0
I think it was from a magazine,where i read about this a long time ago.A simple test can be conducted,by simply asking a mere question,in order to determine the nature of a person,if he or she is pessimistic or optimistic towards life,and everything within it.
Like the chicken-and-egg question,it is one of those questions that has the potential to go on forever and always,and it really depends on the views of the person asked to make this never ending chain of answers come to an end.
To determine the nature of his view on life,simply ask a person the question with a cup of water,half filled.You sit at the bar table,and before you is a cup of water,half filled with water.Exactly half.Now,you ask the person,if he or she thinks that the glass is half full or half empty.
If the answer is half full,then the person would automatically be deemed to be a rather optimistic person.It need not be in every aspect of life,but the fact that he or she chose this over the other,gives people an impression or sense that he or she has hope within oneself,the way he or she convinces him or herself that there is still water left in the glass,that there's still something left to enjoy before the end.
In contrary,if one were to choose the option "half empty",vice versa,the person would be deemed to be pessimistic in nature.It's like saying "Oh my God,it's ALREADY half empty!" Imagine a man with his right leg being eaten away by leprocy.He amputated his leg,and what's left of his right leg is the thighs,ending with a sudden knot in the skin,like the end of a string of sausages.An optimistic person would naturally go "Well,i still have my left leg".A pessimistic person would go,"Damn,i havent got a right leg".I know it is quite a different situation,but in a way they are in fact quite similar to one another.Half empty,half a pair of legs.
Walking through the midnight crowd at Bugis was a rather interesting experience.As the shops closed in on themselves,as they pulled the shutters down,neon lights going off one by one,and the clinging sound of wine glasses against one another as the waiter washed them under the running tap.The ending of a long day's work,the ending of a whole day,the beginning the night,the end of reality,of life.
Bugis doesnt seem to have any time to breathe at all,with the crowd still lingering around the corridors of the mall,like fans after a rock concert,awaiting the encore.Despite the closed doors,the dark shops and the lonely shopkeeper packing up her stores,there will always be people hanging around the mall,breathing in the scent of population,of life left over by the day only hours before.
With half the mall empty,and the other populated by aimless wanderers like myself,Bugis Junction never seemed lonelier.The fountain seized to spurt out beautiful jets of water,crashing into each other and setting off breathtaking display of crystal droplets.By the Starbucks i sat,on the uncomfortable green chairs around the metal table.The lights around the fountain was still on,and it no longer made the spurting water glow,but only alluminating the air around it.I remember that afternoon,when a malay kid wearing a cute green swimsuit,ran through the jets of water with her little brother,and taking a shot of that water right in her face.It was adorable,she was beautiful,as we watched with our chins in our palms,with two cups of ice-blend before us,one empty,one merely a quarter drank,reluctantly.
I drummed my fingers on the table top,and my sight angled towards the chair before me,where you sat more than half a year ago.Has it really been that long?I cant even recall the time,only the time that we had.Till now,i still wonder if you really wanted the ice-blend,or merely bought it before i wanted it for myself.You didnt have to force yourself to it you know,forcing it down and making it a little past the quarter mark.Or was it 3/4 full,in truth?A quarter empty,perhaps?
It's funny,how a cup of ice-blend can in so many ways tell your personality.It's pathetic in a way i know,to judge your own character based on something made up of coffee and whip cream.But then again,sometimes,you just want to rely on such trivial implications,hoping they would mean something,anything.
It troubles me,if the cup was a quarter empty or half full.Was i optimistic about anything that followed,or pessimistic about the future.You set out then,right before the trip around your head all optimistic,all fearless and courageous.You are willing to take on any risks,throw yourself at any opportunities out there like a wanna-be rocker at a record deal.Guess it seemed 3/4 full back then,the ice-blend you forced down your throat after the meal at Swensen's.Back then,it was almost full,and i was almost complete,the broken picture was for an instant,just an instant,me.
Nine months ago,nine months now,as i looked upon the picture in my phone,it suddenly seems to me that the cup wasnt 3/4 full,nor was it 1/4 empty,but really it was own cup that personified my feelings the best.It was empty,like me.It was drank,drained like myself.It was finished,like the way my thoughts are constantly draining away down into this black emotional black hole.
It doesnt matter now,that if the cup was 1/4 empty or 3/4 full,if i was in any way optimistic or pessimistic about so many things.What mattered,what matters now,is the fact that the empty cup actually meant something,something i overlooked before.It's empty,it's zero.It's what's left of me,just dew drops on the outside of the cup,and nothing else inside but leftovers of the sweetness before,thoughts and emotions,dreams and longings.Just a cup all empty,and not full.Is there a difference,anyway?
I think it was from a magazine,where i read about this a long time ago.A simple test can be conducted,by simply asking a mere question,in order to determine the nature of a person,if he or she is pessimistic or optimistic towards life,and everything within it.
Like the chicken-and-egg question,it is one of those questions that has the potential to go on forever and always,and it really depends on the views of the person asked to make this never ending chain of answers come to an end.
To determine the nature of his view on life,simply ask a person the question with a cup of water,half filled.You sit at the bar table,and before you is a cup of water,half filled with water.Exactly half.Now,you ask the person,if he or she thinks that the glass is half full or half empty.
If the answer is half full,then the person would automatically be deemed to be a rather optimistic person.It need not be in every aspect of life,but the fact that he or she chose this over the other,gives people an impression or sense that he or she has hope within oneself,the way he or she convinces him or herself that there is still water left in the glass,that there's still something left to enjoy before the end.
In contrary,if one were to choose the option "half empty",vice versa,the person would be deemed to be pessimistic in nature.It's like saying "Oh my God,it's ALREADY half empty!" Imagine a man with his right leg being eaten away by leprocy.He amputated his leg,and what's left of his right leg is the thighs,ending with a sudden knot in the skin,like the end of a string of sausages.An optimistic person would naturally go "Well,i still have my left leg".A pessimistic person would go,"Damn,i havent got a right leg".I know it is quite a different situation,but in a way they are in fact quite similar to one another.Half empty,half a pair of legs.
Walking through the midnight crowd at Bugis was a rather interesting experience.As the shops closed in on themselves,as they pulled the shutters down,neon lights going off one by one,and the clinging sound of wine glasses against one another as the waiter washed them under the running tap.The ending of a long day's work,the ending of a whole day,the beginning the night,the end of reality,of life.
Bugis doesnt seem to have any time to breathe at all,with the crowd still lingering around the corridors of the mall,like fans after a rock concert,awaiting the encore.Despite the closed doors,the dark shops and the lonely shopkeeper packing up her stores,there will always be people hanging around the mall,breathing in the scent of population,of life left over by the day only hours before.
With half the mall empty,and the other populated by aimless wanderers like myself,Bugis Junction never seemed lonelier.The fountain seized to spurt out beautiful jets of water,crashing into each other and setting off breathtaking display of crystal droplets.By the Starbucks i sat,on the uncomfortable green chairs around the metal table.The lights around the fountain was still on,and it no longer made the spurting water glow,but only alluminating the air around it.I remember that afternoon,when a malay kid wearing a cute green swimsuit,ran through the jets of water with her little brother,and taking a shot of that water right in her face.It was adorable,she was beautiful,as we watched with our chins in our palms,with two cups of ice-blend before us,one empty,one merely a quarter drank,reluctantly.
I drummed my fingers on the table top,and my sight angled towards the chair before me,where you sat more than half a year ago.Has it really been that long?I cant even recall the time,only the time that we had.Till now,i still wonder if you really wanted the ice-blend,or merely bought it before i wanted it for myself.You didnt have to force yourself to it you know,forcing it down and making it a little past the quarter mark.Or was it 3/4 full,in truth?A quarter empty,perhaps?
It's funny,how a cup of ice-blend can in so many ways tell your personality.It's pathetic in a way i know,to judge your own character based on something made up of coffee and whip cream.But then again,sometimes,you just want to rely on such trivial implications,hoping they would mean something,anything.
It troubles me,if the cup was a quarter empty or half full.Was i optimistic about anything that followed,or pessimistic about the future.You set out then,right before the trip around your head all optimistic,all fearless and courageous.You are willing to take on any risks,throw yourself at any opportunities out there like a wanna-be rocker at a record deal.Guess it seemed 3/4 full back then,the ice-blend you forced down your throat after the meal at Swensen's.Back then,it was almost full,and i was almost complete,the broken picture was for an instant,just an instant,me.
Nine months ago,nine months now,as i looked upon the picture in my phone,it suddenly seems to me that the cup wasnt 3/4 full,nor was it 1/4 empty,but really it was own cup that personified my feelings the best.It was empty,like me.It was drank,drained like myself.It was finished,like the way my thoughts are constantly draining away down into this black emotional black hole.
It doesnt matter now,that if the cup was 1/4 empty or 3/4 full,if i was in any way optimistic or pessimistic about so many things.What mattered,what matters now,is the fact that the empty cup actually meant something,something i overlooked before.It's empty,it's zero.It's what's left of me,just dew drops on the outside of the cup,and nothing else inside but leftovers of the sweetness before,thoughts and emotions,dreams and longings.Just a cup all empty,and not full.Is there a difference,anyway?
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on Sunday, May 28, 2006 at 1:51 AM.
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