A cup of tea

I consider myself a pessimist. A cynic. I haven't always been one. I feel like I've undergone a lot of subtle changes over time until suddenly I realize I'm a different person from what I used to be. Is this what growing up is all about? I guess.

I've had a lot of things going on, yet few things have changed. Ironic. It's like running on a treadmill--you cover a large distance yet you don't go anywhere. It's when high expectations and 'reality' reside in different planets. Maybe not that bad. But close.

Some days I have so much to say but other days I just want my own company. One of my pet peeves is people who are extra perky in the morning and insist on having conversations about random things like the weather before I've had any caffeine in my system. Unless there's a tsunami outside, I don't want to discuss the weather! It's fairly predictable this time of year. And I'm not a coffee addict anymore--I drink more tea these days. Black. A little sugar. I have to confess I used to dislike the whole tea-making ritual for visitors when I was growing up. It was my Mom's attempt to make us polite, hospitable, and able to carry on a conversation with grown-ups. We not only had to make the tea but also serve it. Woe to anyone who tried to pass on this duty to the maid. We had enough lectures about the maid's role at home. She was a helper NOT a servant as people in the West like to address them. I didn't mind making tea, but I hated having to serve it while answering questions from visitors about school and hearing comments like "you've grown so big!" and "you need to eat more" often in the same conversation. Years later, I now recognize a few lessons I learned.
-Always ask your guests if they drink milk. Or take sugar. Or caffeine. (Some people neglect to mention it till you've already served them.)
-Parents enjoy to torture and/or show off their kids.
-People love to comment on your appearance and relate it to how much food you eat. (Even though there are lots of skinny people that eat a lot and bigger people who are more moderate.)
-All adults give the same advice: "Work hard."

Now, I'm a little older and have come to appreciate a mug of hot tea--love Ketepa, but Earl Grey will do--when I visit a friend. But I have vowed never to exclaim "you've grown so big!" to any kids I meet. Especially if they were babies the last time I saw them.

If you ask whether my cup of tea is half empty or half full, I realize it doesn't really matter to me. What does matter is that I do have a hot cup to drink.