Monday, September 18, 2006

Men Wear Many Masks Too

As I was window-shopping a couple of weeks ago, I saw a man carrying a small child sitting in one of the benches and probably waiting for the dear wife as she indulged herself in one of the stores. Placed next to him was a bulging bag which I assume contained the baby’s ‘essentials and supplies’ and a baby stroller was parked nearby. Another toddler aged about 3 years or so was playing with his robot toy on the cold floor a few feet away. This papa was bottle-feeding his young baby, probably not more than 2 months old and he was such a ‘natural’ with the way he held the child in his arm and the way he ‘positioned’ the bottle. After a while or so, he put the bottle down and burped the child before he proceeded to continue feeding. Ahh… such a heartwarming scene.

It’s not that I have not seen this type of new-age papas before, but that man looked familiar. Where have I seen him before. Hmmmm…Errrmmm….Try as I might, I just could not place him. Anyway, I walked into another store and something else caught my eyes and I just erased this image.

Then 2 days ago, I saw this man again at a funeral wake of a colleague. A quick referral with another colleague confirmed that this man is the Director of XXX Co. Oooohhh…..I see, I see. Now I remember. This is the same man I saw in action at his office many, many months ago. I was at XXX Co. to collect some documents. As the person in charge was in the midst of a short discussion, I was told to wait at the reception area. I was thumping through some of the old magazines when suddenly a very well-dressed man stormed out and yelled at the receptionist for putting through a call to his office. OMG, the look on his face would be good enough to frighten away a pit-bull. Then I guessed he realized that there was someone in the reception area and he just as quickly retreated to his office. That was rude. Didn’t know whether he felt embarrassed or not but the receptionist and I sure did.

Ya, this is the same man – the docile and loving father looking after the kids while his wife shopped. This is the same man who wore power suits and call all the shots at the office but is very ‘domesticated’ at the home front. This is the same man who was crass and rude at work but gentle and loving at home.

Men wear many masks too.
 
posted by nyonyapenang at 12:10 AM, |

22 Comments:

  At 12:54 AM Blogger ikanbilis said:
domestic dad.. reminds me of "the undomestic goddess"

well he's still a dad anyway so he still got shares to hold at home right? i just hope the wife is not the queen-bee. otherwise mati lah the CEO!
  At 1:31 AM Blogger Jo said:
oh yes... they do. Its the way of mankind. So, doesn't only apply to man. Hor?
  At 2:00 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
At home, this man is probably sked of his tigeress and at office he got to let it go somehow!! hahahaha..
  At 7:44 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
That's the New Age man lah...! Shared responsibilities!!! Daytime I babysit, u go shopping...! Nighttime u stay home and jaga baby, I terbang...!!!! Ha ha ha!
  At 8:09 AM Blogger Unknown said:
yeah... u r right. during working I'm very serious, after work I'm like crazy. Is like that ma, all time serious can become mad lor, so must make urself felxible ma.
  At 9:08 AM Blogger dreamie said:
it is v normal. My director shouts most of the time and cynical in his remarks but if his son or wife stopped by his office ... WOILA.. LA LA !! ...totally changed the tone of his voice and added along the magic words of "please, and thank you" towards his staff.
  At 9:46 AM Blogger Sasha Tan said:
cos when he is with his wife...he is " Ah sei"..no longer the director.. hehehe
  At 10:20 AM Blogger ah nel said:
no matter whre i am i like to be myself...i dowan ppl get disapointed later if they knew me had a mask...

i owes tell every gals that closed to me coz if they step on my head sure i will scold them like what i did to guys so don xpect a gentle on me... ;)
  At 10:44 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
Liddat is ok to me as long as he is a dedicated dad at home :)
  At 11:03 AM Anonymous Anonymous said:
The next immediate thing you could have done is to locate the CEO's wife as ask for her secret for holding her hubby on his horns...
  At 11:52 AM Blogger Mushu said:
i wouldn't say he wears a mask... for me, wearing a mask is someone who doesn't reveal his true personality - a fake. But in this case, this guy's just doing what he's supposed to do, a tough-guy CEO and a loving husband/father. It's all part of him, and he's just showing his true colors in the right place and right time. Who knows, he'll probably exert a bit of his tough-guy side when his kids grow up. :)
  At 1:13 PM Anonymous Anonymous said:
My ex did. He couldn't take it when confronted & he left & put the blame on me.
  At 2:14 PM Anonymous Anonymous said:
haha,,ur post has reminded me of something i wanna blog about...when i'm free 1st..now kenot..
  At 3:38 PM Blogger jazzmint said:
two face huh
At least he still has a gentle side...
  At 6:44 PM Blogger sengkor said:
like that baru balance..
ikanbilis,
see his docile side, you wouldn't expect that he is 'so capable' of yelling at someone.

lil'joy,
i thot his yelling was not too appropriate lor.

aceone,
saw him so garang at his office, thot he would be the alpha-male type. LOL

suituapui,
wuuaah, got shift mia ka?
kakakaka....

kenny,
serious and foul are two different things, no?

dreamie,
lidat not very respectable bahaviour hor?

sasha,
maybe you are right. the wife will be the one yelling at him. LOL

ah nel,
respect works both ways. ;)

immomsdaughter,
if lidat, he might have a dark side and one fine day he will come like a typhoon leh.

ian,
and get her to publish a book. LOL

vern,
i'm not implying he's a fake per se.
true, we behave differently when at work or at play but for this particular guy, it's more than a 180degrees turn.

jemima,
EGO, perhaps?

laundryamah,
pray tell, pray tell. LOL

jazzmint,
dunno got more than 2 or not. i dowan to know. LOL

king's wife,
i think this type can explode bila-bila masa wan. takut ler. LOL

sengkor,
so you balanced or unbalanced?
kakaka....
  At 8:02 PM Blogger Chen said:
working time & leisure time/off work time are two different world for most people :)
  At 10:04 PM Blogger ah nel said:
yeah...i respek even 5 yrs old kids if they respek me but old men even old than me no respek me i wont respek them... ;)
dr chen,
i agree. but for that man hor, his both 'appearances' don't match - it's too far off, i may say.

ah nel,
you got it right, man.
  At 10:59 PM Anonymous Anonymous said:
At work he's the CEO but at home she's the CEO... so boh pian have to follow instructions...hehehe
angeleyes,
ya, and get yelled at too by the Home Affairs CEO.
LOL