I’ve learnt one of the downsides to travelling alone is that you have no protection against the occasional oddball who crosses your path.
There was a Legal Career Fair on Saturday and I decided to go. I planned on meeting a friend there so we could roam the fair together and exchange notes on the talks they were having. Unfortunately she had to bail at the last minute, so I hopped onto a train and went off alone.
It was during one of the talks when this really strange man of perhaps 50 came to sit next to me. There was an empty chair beside me, so he took it. He smiled and said hello, so I replied. Apparently, despite his peppery grey hair, he was a law student, which reminded me a bit of the Uncles we have back in UIA. So that was ok. The thing is, during the talk, he kept on fidgeting about and bumping into my shoulder, which made me feel very very uncomfortable. I tried shifting sideways in my seat first, before trying to scoot my chair surreptitously away, but that was no good. No escape routes were in sight either. The worst part was he kept on looking over and smiling and smiling and smiling. You can usually distinguish a friendly smile and a creepy smile. His was unfortunately the latter. I gave him one back out of politeness, but I think the strain on my face was clear. I wanted to change seats, but it’s a small room with very few number of chairs, and he would’ve noticed. I didn’t want to be rude, but I wanted him to be absolutely motionless for at least the next half hour or so til the talk ended. The whole time I sat there, rigid, all I could think of was how stupid I was for telling him I came alone (he asked). I’ll know better next time, but personally, I think it’s always best to have a companion around. It’s a lot more fun, and you’ll always have a partner to help you dodge the occasional oddball.
(For what’s it’s worth, he was probably harmless. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry.)
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I’ve got to learn how to say No, or I’m going to suffer the effects of biting off more than I can chew. On top of my coursework and weekly submissions to worry about, my dad wants me to do some research on Palestine and war crimes for his upcoming event with Aman Palestin, JUST and MERCY. Normally I’d jump at the chance straight away, but where I was relatively free last week, I’m now suddenly swamped with work left and right. To make matters worse, I’ve spent this weekend doing some things outside of work, but as equally important, which means now all my uni assignments and submissions are all pushed up to tomorrow, which is incidentally the day for our Pandora Session (ie, client counseling). That reminds me, a discussion needs to be arranged to prepare our case, and possibly reschedule an appointment…
Or maybe I just really want my diary to be full.
Honestly though, I think I’ve taken on too much.
And time management isn’t going to save me here when there isn’t enough of it to manage.
I’m going to have to get a little creative in how I’m going to tackle this.
Wish me luck!
Enough said here.
