June ends

The haze situation is stable for now. Ginger was gone for a week and I thought the worst. Then, day before yesterday, I was never happier to see two orange paws sticking out of my neighbour's shoe rack.

Singapore enjoyed non-hazardous air all of last week. The Indonesian government has been taking measures to control the situation, mostly in response to pressure from the international community. Singapore, meanwhile, is busy implementing emergency preparedness measures in schools, hospitals, offices, etc, in case the haze comes back. Often, we lack the drive to take preventative measures (which we perceive as taking up more of our time, effort and costs) and instead focus on tackling immediate problems as and when they arise. Taking shortcuts can cost much more sometimes.

I have a very small but surely growing collection of books. So whenever, I need a book fix and I feel too lazy to hit the library, I end up re-reading my favourite books. It's kind of like how I tend to order the same things at restaurants, despite resolutions to be more adventurous in trying out new things, because I know for a fact that it is going to taste great. So I picked up Quiet again and it's been really hard to let the book down.

The book also got me in trouble TWICE today.

Scene #1: This morning, I honestly missed a text message from my colleague, who was in the next carriage, saying "Good Morning Shu, I just saw you step into the train." because I was wrapped up in the book. And she said she didn't walk over to me to say hello because she saw that I was very engrossed. She is thoughtful like that. Had I seen the message, I would have been forced to go socialise with her instead getting some valuable reading time so I was glad about the way things turned out [Shu, you are going to hell!]. It is possible she thought that I saw her message and chose to ignore it.

Scene#2: Evening time, again in the train after we've (she's) talked a lot and I've listened more, she asked casually what I am reading. I told her it's an interesting Psychology book and pulled out the book to show it to her without much thought and shortly after that, I regretted showing it. It read "Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking". I should have been more careful. I hope she didn't feel like it was a metaphorical slap in her face because I thought I saw her blush. I felt terrible. I'd rather she assumed I was a forelorn introvert reading a self-help book to gain self confidence than take it the wrong way.

I try not to over-use labels, but it's impossible not to, in this case. Sure, there are exceptions; introversion and extroversion lie on a spectrum rather than being two fixed states and some people are harder to pick out as they have mastered qualities and skills that don't come naturally to them. But the more I understand the psychology behind this phenomenon and observe social situations, it appears that the majority of introverts and extroverts are as unmistakable as males and females of a particular species.

My colleague is a nice extrovert who is very thoughtful, kind, smart and has a big conscience (but she will stop being nice to me if she found out I was using her as a case study on my blog!). Being happily married to her college sweetheart who she admits is an introvert, she seems to know well how to draw us out of our shell in a pleasant and non-threatening way. The most successful couples I have met are pairings of the opposite type, provided that they each have a good understanding of their partners' strengths and limitations. My parents are such a couple. Though not the most romantic couple on Earth, they do make a good team that can work in synergy. They celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary two days ago, and *gasp*, Shu and her sister forgot to wish them, until they reminded us! We assume they know that we love them very much regardless of temporary flashes of memory impairment.

Here's a timeless tune that's always a hit at weddings: