old bean

the old bean came back late one evening, way past his usual boss-can-come-late-and-leave-early time, tired and totally drained. he's 68, much too old to be still working so hard, harder than any of us actually. but then, he's a workaholic, and i'm allergic to work. there's a difference.

anyway, the old bean came home after all of us have had our tummy stuffed and bloated, the bags under his eyes more pronounced than ever. we were waiting with baited breath for him to spill his latest adventure in the corporate world. with his throat so dried, and stomach so hungry, he told us the story of his day. it was tough, trying to chew, swallow and satisfy our curiousity at the same time. at some point, he looked like he could barely wait to finish chewing the food and swallowed it whole in his eagerness to share with us the details of battle that he had just fought. so cruel of us, the thought flitted past my mind. but i don't know who is more excited; us hearing or him telling. if he was to come home to an empty living hall, with nobody for him to share his excitement, i think he would have been a very disatisfied boy. it's in his blood, it's what he lives for. i've never seen another man who looks as depressed on holiday as he does. the light in his eyes is snuffed without the excitement that his work brings him.

so, this old bean, who lives for his work, came back with a blood pressure reading which shot to the sky that night. it's not usual, and it's most worrisome. on weekends, his pressure returns to normal, but you see him wandering aimlessly like a zombie, floating without soul, waiting for monday to hurry back again, just as we wait for the weekends to return. so, to work or to be healthy? what are you willing to give up for your passion? is life worth living when it's not worth living anymore?

my old bean. we tell him to see a doctor, he says later. we tell him to go for some tests, he says next week. we remind him it's already next week, he says he's busy. do i drag him there physically? do i nag him incessantly, which i already do? what can the little bean do? when your parents grow older, you become the parent, and they the children.