Once, there was a pig who lived in a cowboy farm and was feeling so down. The cowboy-farmer never gave him too much attention other than the normal feeding and occasional health inspections. The pig felt he was alive for nothing. So he came to the cowboy's personal horse, who was the most respected animal in the farm.

"Yo, Horse."

The horse looked up from the green, green grass he was enjoying. "Whaddup, Pig?"

"Howya doin'?"

"Very well, thanx."

"'Course you are, silly me," said the pig. "You are the special one among us. Humans always look at you and say how beautiful you are. And the cowboy always beams with pride when mentioning you to his friends."

The horse looked down at the pig, a few feet shorter. "All right, Pig, what's going on?"

"Nuttin'," replied the dejected pig. "It's just that they always give you preferential treatment. And me? Not a nut!"

The horse tried to look humble -- without much success. "You see, Pig, that's because I give them my best effort. It's always my effort to look good. To give them the best ride. Never to let them down."

"Yeah, yeah, I can see that. But it's not fair! I mean, it's what you have to do. It's your role. It's your job. I, too, always give them my best effort. I eat whatever the cowboy gives me to become healthy and fat. But they never say good things about me."

The pig looked so sad, he could start crying any minute. "Not until I die and become ham, bacon, and ribs."

Well, the story ends there as I couldn't think of any suitable ending. But that brings us to two things. One. How invisible things could mean so much to us and we always take them for granted. Janitors and office boys in our offices. BTW, I just realized something. Office boys only exist in Indonesia. No such thing here. You wanna mail a letter? Go to the post office during lunch. Want some nasi Padang for lunch and the canteen is damn cowded? Too bad, queue. Want your car washed? Wait. What car?

So. Janitors, office boys, satpams, maids, street sweepers, waiters, etc, etc. We see them everyday, everywhere. Yet are we even aware of their presence? They're almost invisible to us. That is, until we notice an error. Unemptied trash cans. Dirty windows. Dishes that never arrive. And then we start complaining about how our invisible task force never do their jobs properly. How many of us can tell what shoes our regular janitor is wearing today? A bit of appreciation won't hurt. Even as little as an I-recognize-you-how's-life nod every morning.

Two. How sometimes we wait until it's way late to start doing good things for others. It's like a stingy millionaire who never donates a cent for charities, yet in his will leaves everything to his church. Who knows, he might get into trouble and lose all his wealth before his time comes. Oh, BTW, my boss always says, don't wait until you're dying before looking for help. The context is -- what else -- vendor-customer relationship, but I think it applies here also.

Start today. If you find it hard to think of good things for others, think of ones for yourself first. Put on those jogging sneakers and start running. Just do it. Impossible is nothing. Life is short, play hard. It's finger lickin' good. Huh? Sorry, wrong brand. Don't wait until you're too old to run or too potbellied to see your own toes.

PS: from now on I'll do this LJ-styled current music, current mood thingy. I find it cool.

Current music: Adam Sandler - Grow Old with You
Current mood: happy