Aunty D advises you on matters of life and love.

TIPPING POINT
Dear Aunty D,
My wife and I have had a bit of a disagreement of late, regarding my treatment of a particularly boorish taxi driver. After a Friday night on the town, we hailed a cab, only to be met with a vile glare from the driver. Muttering under his breath, he was very unpleasant from the get-go. Because of certain choice words he mumbled, it can be safe to assume he took a dislike to us because we are Indian. I have always felt that racism is best dealt with by displaying compassion, so I decided that giving the driver a whopping great tip might make him reconsider his prejudices. My wife, on the other hand, takes the opposing view and believes such people should be treated with the same aggression back. More so, she believes I’m a fool who wasted his money on a foul person. Is this true? Lately, I’ve been doubting the approach I took.

Dear Tipping Point,
The cabbie might have had the misfortune of meeting really rude Indian passengers; and thereafter, made up his mind that all Indians must be equally uncouth. It’s sad and tragic that in Kal Yug, intolerance and prejudice is at its lowest ever, whether it be of age, disability, ethnicity, origin, political leanings, race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation or languages. You did us Indians proud, by not reacting with a tit-for-tat attitude. As for the hefty tip, charity given from the right hand, must remain unknown to the left hand, thus is the rule for true charity.

LIVE AND LEARN
Dear Aunty D,
To help prepare for next year’s exam season, my mum hired a private tutor. The tutor is only a few years older than me so we get on really well, enjoy the same music, and are always sharing jokes. Unfortunately, however, I don’t think I’m learning much. Case in point being that I failed almost all of my recent practice tests. My mother, of course, blames me for being lazy and not concentrating hard enough. Now, I am a big fan of chatting but not when doing so can negatively impact my future. Sometimes I wonder if the tutor truly understands the subjects better than me. She often skips around answering my questions and guides our talks towards simpler topics. I don’t feel that my mum is getting her money’s worth and I think I’d be better off learning by myself. I want to explain the situation to my mum but I’m afraid she’ll think I’m trying to get out of doing extra work. What should I do?

Dear Live and Learn,
You seem to have your head screwed on tight enough. It’s a rare child who understands the value of the money being spent on them by their parents; you also realise that with or without the tutor you didn’t give it your 100 percent. Such a sensible child must have an amazing mum. So, hug her tight and apologise for your lax attitude and assure her you’ll try harder from now onwards, and mean it. Then, let her take a call on the tutor’s fate.

LOW CAL
Dear Aunty D,
I’ve never been one for overindulgence. It used to be that I considered a good time to be a brisk walk or a swim. But things have been strange lately. It seems that no matter what I do, I keep putting on weight. I don’t get it. It’s true that I’m not exercising as much but it’s not like I’m going out for food either. So no pigging out at restaurants. I just stay in and eat, like they recommended for the COVID-19 lockdown. The doctors recommended it so it’s healthy right? It’s not like I get much enjoyment out of food anyway. To cut a long story short, my family has been a bit concerned about my weight. They’re worried about my health. I’m not that worried. Maybe a bit disappointed when I look in the mirror. I think I just want to be left alone. Any advice?

Dear Low Cal,
With the lockdown, everything went topsy-turvy and threw everyone off whack. So don’t be too harsh on yourself, whether it’s the weight issue or the feeling of melancholia. It’s a tough world we opened our doors to, with an uncertain future still in the front. We in Thailand are luckily doing well and life is fast getting back to some sort of normalcy. So wear your keds and get back to the gym and face this ‘new’ era with swag; it wears better than any Jimmy Choo.

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