Are we there yet?

amazing pictures by Jamie Beck,

it reminds me of every birthday wish, and how we become

I just got a phone call from a dear college friend Megan who is deeply troubled after the blind date last weekend.

How is that disturbing? Everything starts from comparison. Your world and others' world, which are often much more fantastic and splashy.

A couple of friends arranged a so-called blind date for their friends, three single guys and three single ladies. I've never really had a blind date or anything like that before (yeah I had 5 years dull college life), so I required a full report on that, oh, I simply care if there would be a Mr. Right for Megan. So I heard her talking about it last Sat, when she started to feel the difference of lifestyle and careers of others.  It looks like she had a great time meeting new friends around our age. And she found her new friends' backgrounds are surprisingly impressive. She was quite alright when she talked about it with me at first, 'It's just a matter of choice. That's their lives, not necessary mine.' Two days later, she called me, officially acknowledged how unsettling she felt after the gathering.

According to her, 5 out of 6 works as engineers in high-tech companies in Taipei city, which means they're labeled as 'new high-tech nobles'*. Megan, however, works in a bicycle company in a remote county ZhangHua, where is remote from the capital and thus far away from a colourful life. This, in the first place, made her 'not in the loop' to share their life and work experience. Also, she surprised that all the guys had studied overseas (which means they grew up in financially sufficient families. They seem to be nice, friendly, funny and sociable, unlike other stereotyped geeky engineers. All in all, it looks like it's favourable for any young lady to find a husband.

Megan felt panic after two days, along with her prevailing  unconfidance of her job and life and, eventually, everything.

Why does everyone seems to be know what they should go after? Am I still warming up while others are already in the game? Is this what I really want? Should I settle down with it? Am I eligible for a better life?

Are we there yet, by Ingrid Michaelson

lovely

Many friends of mine sometime or another, feel the same way. So do I. I am a petty assistant working in a university. I got the constant feeling of being stuck in the stage, unchanged and tiring life, doing pointless chores to fit in the uni bureaucracy. And it would probably last for a year or two.

That's terrifying.

But the dread would be much more overwhelming when I am aware that I might gradually be content with it and feel comfortably numb to things that I used to despise. If I stay where I am, it'd be giving up on a possible future. If I chose not to continue to the next stage, I might have to take the risk of loosing what I've adjusted so well and face the challenge that I might not be able to survive. Either way, it's a gamble, for success. So we keep asking the same question: are we there yet?

Unnerving mid-twenties.

I love the quote from the CBS TV series Good Wife, when the lawyer Alicia's client asked her with anxiety, 'Are we gonna win?' She simply replied,

'We're gonna fight.'

It is a simple and universal truth that human beings never know what lies ahead, nevertheless, we try everything we could to live up to our dream, to make ends meet, to lead the life we wish for, and, to do the right things. That's the value of life, isn't it?

I say let's go for it. In our bright, promising mid twenties. Bring it on!




*It's a widely used term describing Taiwanese stereotype of people who work in technology companies. They are 'new' because they work in the new industry of high-tech, in stead of the traditional industry. And they have higher salary and benefit such as being company shareholders.Overall it  is a bit different from those in the western world: the engineers might as well be nerdy, geeky, however, they're well-paid, satisfying titles, high standard living style, and most important of all, they afford to invest real estate, good card and houses. Anyway, there would be definitely a WOW look on everyone's face once they know you're a engineer or works for a tech company.