Taken For Granted...

Every week day morning we wake up, we brush our teeth, take a quick shower and changed into our smart and beautiful clothes. We rushed out of our bedroom doors, greeted our parents without even looking at their faces and sink our teeth into the food served on the table. Or maybe not, sometimes we just head to the front door after a short 'bye' before rushing out to work or to have breakfast with friends and colleagues before work.

After the office hour, we were supposed to go back home for dinner but due to the heavy traffic condition, we decided to have a quick dinner outside. If the crowd is right, we chatted till late before going for a drink at a nearby pub only after which, we went back home. Back at home, we were either too tired or we have tonnes of personal things to do either online or offline that most of the time, we were locked in our own room, forgetting the other family members who are staying together with us. By 1am, we slumped onto our bed, recharge our exhausted body, getting it ready for another 'Great' new day 6 hours later.

The same thing happened the next morning but instead of saying a short 'bye' before leaving, we probably complained about the car that has not been washed, or the stained leather shoes that we have just bought before leaving for our next 'important' task. That evening, we probably would not drink at the pub anymore but we might go out for a movie or do some shopping with a few close friends before late night supper after which only will we go home in exhaustion.

Finally, Saturday has come. We go out for drinks and as the alcohol seeps into our bloodstream, we forget that it's time for us to go home and not until the pub closes that we drive home in a drunken state. The following morning, we wake up after the lunch time is over and take our shower to shake off the hangover. Feeling bored at home, we called up our friends before going off for another tea session to chat and boast about how much liquor we have drunk the night before.

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It doesn't happen all the time, it doesn't happen to everybody and it doesn't happen to all the families but more and more people are facing situation like this nowadays. To make things worse, with the availability of wireless modem, high speed broadband, laptops and now super high tech mobile phones, the more we are connected, the further apart we are from our family. We hang out with friends, we strive at work, we try to enlarge our social circle and yet we have absent mindedly neglected the most important social circle of our life.... our family...

When is the last time we actually sit down with either one of our parents to share about our work, our friends and our boy or girl friends. When is the last time we went out with our brother or sister for a jog at the park. When also is the last time we went out for a picnic with our family whom we have neglected because of our commitment to our work, to our friends. When we converse with our mothers, when is the last time we really look into their eyes, trying to really understand and listen to what they have to say about the neighbours' new grandchildren, the new cookware that she found useful while she went to the market or her concern about whether the new chicken dishes that she cooks for dinner taste alright.

Maybe I am too sensitive and maybe also I am exaggerating. Maybe what I have seen is just the minority who happened to be leading a bad lifestyle. Maybe a lot of people out there are actually spending a lot of quality times with their families. They might have just came back from a great vacation and are planning for another one soon. Whatever the maybes are, this entry is for sure one thing I won't mind to be proven wrong...