Mindless pursuit

Ever since I moved to PJ, I have a lot of free time on my hands.

Every night I find myself going home doing nothing but watch Astro (and for some reasons, more often than not, it's Seinfeld).

Eventually, I decided that those few hours of mindless pursuit could be put to better use. Like working at a part-time job.

So today after office, I will start work at Pizza Hut Mid Valley.

Same mindless pursuit, except that for this one, I will actually get paid.

I'm gonna be working there every week night for the next few months,depending on how I like that place.

Plan to save up the money to go to Makkah again.

We're not talking about trainloads of money here. I mean, come on. They pay by the hour -- RM3.50 to be exact -- which for a part-timer like me will add up to just a few hundred ringgit every month.

But it's halal and that is all that matters to me.

You say, "well why don't you draw more cartoons then? I'm sure you'll make more."

Well I dunno. Cartoons are fine but, as with any kind of contribution, they're always late when it comes to payment. And sometimes irregular.

With proper employment though, you know exactly how much you'll make ANDwhen you're getting it. I like that.

Plus, working at fast food is not taxing on the mind. I know becos I used towork at Shakey's Pizza before.

It gets to a point where it can be quite mechanical. So I can be setting the table, cleaning the drink bar or taking orders while thinking about my next cartoon ideas.

Another reason I'm getting this part-time job is becos of my brother. He's staying with me and he's not doing anything. He's supposed to be attending college or doing his practical training at a workshop (he's doing automotive) but all I see him doing is sleep all day and go out at night.

Before I get home from work, he would go out and return home much later at 2.00 or 3.00 in the morning. And then watch Astro (probably Seinfeld too).

In the morning, when I leave for work, he'll usually be in his room or on the couch, sleeping.

I did suggest to him once to take up a part-time job since he seemed so free. But he told me he wanted to concentrate on his studies for the time being. By sleeping all day??

I heard that this is a common problem with "young people nowadays"*: They sleep all day, go out at night.

You might think that this is just confined to boys, but actually no.

Maybe there's a market for colleges that conduct classes at 2.00 or 3.00 in the morning.


* Gosh, now I'm talking like a boring old fart