The nearest canteen to my office is failing – individual stalls come and go, a third are currently empty, and the lack of variety makes lunchtime a bit of a drag. There is no chicken rice stall, no bah chor mee stall, and no proper indian or malay stalls. There is no beehoon stall for breakfast.
There is a resident drunk I see often – he’s a middle aged man, quite slim and of a pinkish complexion, and is always drinking beer, even in the mornings. I’ve seen him eating from a styrofoam takeaway container of rice and dishes with curry leaking and forming a pool on the table, while he slowly spoons each mouthful. It was daytime and he was clearly drunk.
There is always a table of bus maintenance guys, some in uniform and some not. There is a huge big-sized guy who is, in typical taxi uncle fashion, complaining and critising people non-stop. He has a messy beard, and is too large to button up his reflective-patched uniform over his stained inner t-shirt. People around the table give polite replies, but he keeps going, and loudly, and eventually has to talk only to the person next to him, as no one else can bear to continue paying attention. I pity his colleagues that have to deal with this every day.
I strive to not be like that guy, or end up like that guy, which brings me to one of life’s clearest answers: being non-obese is an upstream benefit that trickles down to many parts of your life. A man disgruntled is the worst type of man. And there is a clear line between being obese and being disgruntled.
A business idea: Fried rice but with grain bowl characteristics – Warm and fried but with healthy oils, and with a protein and vegetables and corn or edamame, composed like a grain bowl, with macros and nutrition, but make it tasty by frying with egg and making it fried rice. We need more of these kinds of options in food courts. Or just a healthier oils option.