The Paramedic in me (part 2)

And Yes! I finally met up with that long lost friend whom I mentioned in part 1 of the story. After close to 35 years, I finally met up with him. I had a lot of excitement and anticipation prior to the meet. I must admit that I had been guilty of clinging on to the memories of the past.

But the reality is that people change. Due to the paths that he had chosen and the different knocks that he had probably taken, I found in him someone with whom I could not relate anymore. He has become materialistic and had at some point in time stopped growing. It was like he was trapped in a time-zone. Yes, he could continue the relationship exactly where we left off 35 years ago. But that was all there was to it. He still works in the estates and admittedly he has progressed to a higher position but that’s mainly due to his experience in doing the same thing that he did all those years . Nothing more. There was nothing different in terms of his perception towards life. His views were still the shallow reflections that he had in his youth. And he still has not even ‘experimented’ with computers and avoids the topic as if it was a bad word. I normally have only kind words for people especially of friends but I was especially disappointed that this guy refuses to acknowledge the actual world. He had shut himself off from the real world preferring to just work and earn money so that his children can become doctors and lawyers. And he subtly tries to measure me by asking how many houses I have, how much I have amassed and what car I drive. He appeared uncomfortable when I mentioned about my bungalow and my CRV because having started out together, he sort of expected me to be somewhere within his ‘range’. But hei! Does it matter? Are you to be concerned with such things? What is it to you where I live and what I own? Who are you to be judgmental? What happened to the innocence of youth?....of friendship?........the time you took me at face value?.....when it didn’t matter to you my origin or background?

Anyway I realized that it’s his perception of success………. at the expense of his very existence and all the niceness of this world that comes with it which unfortunately he doesn’t see and has decided to forego. People don’t just grow over time…..they are supposed to evolve in every sense of the word. If we are intended to just grow, then we would have been probably created static!

Is this the intention of our being……the purpose of our creation? Without appearing to sound philosophical about it, I personally believe that life is not only to be lived but to a large extent, in the process of living, it is to be enjoyed too. Of course, there must be limits and clear lines drawn lest you get carried away. But that’s how you are supposed to discipline yourself…..no? To do it any other way is like shunning kitchen knives because they can injure you. Absurdity at its heights! Anyway, it was good that at least now I knew. I don’t feel sad or anything but happy for the experience and the enlightenment, And if you think that he might feel offended if he read this, I’m quite confident that with his lack of exposure, he probably is still living under the notion that the keyboard is actually an electronic typewriter attached to a television screen.