In The Name of SMU, Hear Me Roar! (and Curse and Swear and...)

I just had lunch with my boss. It was kinda awkward; the stilted conversation, the prolonged silence... And being me, I couldn't help noticing that he was sweating profusely and I felt a little... Ewww... Yes, I'm like that, even with my friends. Once, when one of my friends, let's call him Apple, came a little too close and spoke to me, I had to hold my breathe cos of his bad breathe. Yes, I am that evil. Muahaha...

Anyway, back to the lunch. I spent a good half an hour defending not only SMU's name, but also my choice of study, Business Management. You see, this obnoxious China Professor accousted the both of us having lunch and promptly settled himself into the seat next to me.

When he heard that I was from SMU, he launched into this preaching sesion about how he thought that Business Management students were wasting their time and money studying something that was virtually useless. He kept on extolling the virtues of an engineering background, proudly proclaiming that he knew this so-and-so IT manager who was actually an engineer, and how all top managers will eventually have engineering background and how stupid and useless it is to learn soft skills when all you need to do is flip a couple of management books before you sleep to understand what it is all about.

That cheena wanker.

i was freaking fuming mad. I love being a SMU student, more so a business student. It's my passion, my direction and my future. And for this short, annoying China man to tell me authoritatively that my life choices were stupid and misguided made me see red. So for the first time in my life, I found myself defending my school, my degree and myself in Chinese. As in Joanne-I-can't-speak-Chinese-properly Chan. Yes, I was that mad to challenge a China man in Chinese.

But moving away from that detail... My boss kept quiet throughout this verbal battle (unfairly loped to one side) because he freaking has an engineering degree from freaking NUS. Anyway, I interrupted that stupid China man periodically with comments like, "It's the overall environment that also contributes to an education"; "Your degree does not plot your future path"; "I see myself as a manager, and a successful one" and so on.

When he finally annoyed me too greatly, I curtly informed him that I have absolutely no interest in engineering, and have never taken physics in my life. Moreover, I am very happy with my decisions and believe that I will do well. So there.

After that I lost all interest in the conversation and turned away, tactfully of course. I pretended to be looking at the posters on the wall. He too, gave up trying to preach when he realized that I wasn't listening to him with appreciation for giving me such wise words and left.

Wanker, wanker, wanker. Urrgh.

Now that I'm replaying this conversation in my head, I wish fervantly that I was more eloquent and could think quicker. I have so many more arguments to supply. How bout:

"In the business world, we need people to think dynamically and respond to changes as required. Engineers think too systematically and are too rigid."

OR

"Like you said, managing people is a soft skill. So is organisation. All the more you can't learn from books, especially not from reading before bed, but require the right environment to nurture your skills and experience."

OR

"Shut up, you good-for-nothing China Man! Your dress sense is bad and your superior tone is offensive! I hope your country attacks Taiwan so that America can retaliate!! hahahahah!!"

Ok, maybe not the last one, but it would have been appropriate. Bugger it. No wonder he's teaching at RP. The whole glorified school is centred on IT! Sheesh!