thursday

and so, the debacle over my studentcard finally came to an end. i got my card at last, albeit with an incomplete name.

what's in a name? that we call a rose by any other would smell as sweet.

anyway, at least i can take comfort in the knowledge that my name won't be scrutinised exactly in any situation, because the people don't understand the naming system, and to cover up for their ignorance, they will brush over it. so there isn't any problem at all.

but the whole debacle has made me realise a few things:

-a team is only as strong as its weakest link. no team can boast to be championship-material, to be elite if they have a third-rate goalkeeper. never mind if all other teams have third-rate goalkeepers as well. that is simply an unacceptably lousy excuse. it shows that the mentality is third-rate as well.

-human factor is everywhere. a friend of mine told me that if one is not confident about contact with other people, he can work in the kitchen. but that doesn't mean that the kitchen is devoid of life. the human factor is present in another form. what the hell will you be cooking if you don't think about the people eating it?

you cannot run away from the human factor.

you cannot say much of my job doesn't involve it, so i can get away with little understanding of it.even if you are a striker,if you have to defend, you jolly well defend.

i think alot of problems we have today is because people have forgotten the essence, their souls. that is why i have long since given up on big organisations, because they are the first ones to lose that soul.

they have forgotten their soul.

-lines are being drawn too clearly here, and in some cases, thick lines borne out of the wildest imagination possible. i think if a defender were to be beaten, and his teammates just say: that's not my problem, then the team is in deep trouble. if the players are not ready to stand up for one another, to fight for one another, then why do i have a team?

when ogasawara was ruled out for the rest of the season, the manager told the team: up to now, all of you have been doing just what is required of you, nothing more, leaving your captain to shoulder everything else.

well you do wonder if sometimes those people have even fulfilled what is required of them.

-i feel that between a fake smile that looks happy and a fake smile that looks grumpy, i would take the fake smile that looks happy, anytime. so can you imagine my disbelief when i was ever told that service in japan is too fake.i feel that if we cannot accept that, it is either because we cannot understand it due to linguistic barriers, or simply because there is something deficient in us. something that causes us to reject it. it is like blinding beauty that makes us feel inferior, and as such, we reject it. those are the only reasons i can come up with.

-of course what happened could be said to be an isolated case. but i must admit that in general, they don't know what is service here. some do, and they perform admirably. but alot flop, and i think that's a real shame, because they don't owe it to me, but to their own people, to themselves, to the pretty girls on the streets.

on a brighter note, it is Thursday. the long-awaited Thursday. whether we make the run or stay on the line, maybe we will know today.