Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Baby Talk

One way to survive the grueling madness of medical school is with a good support system of friends and family. Without it, many a bright mind has succumbed to the intense pressure of scholarship - dropped out, interned in nearby asylums or taken the easy way out by bungee-jumping without a safety cord off the nearest skyscraper.

Me, I had Eye Eddie and Doubting Danny. Coincidentally they both turned out to be raging homos as well - although I only learned that much later. Birds of a pink feather do flock together. Close friends but we never actually roomed together - although we somehow managed for the length of medical school to remain perpetually clustered in the same block. Shared our dinners, our midnight movies, our late night mugging sessions but not our love lives ( that only came later ).

Still after graduation, adulthood and a hectic working life beckoned - and we all returned to our respective states, keeping in touch only irregularly. Till recently when a chance meeting with Danny at a medical conference brought us three together. Barely time enough to catch up with their busy lives which is why I spent one late afternoon lunch with Eye Eddie ( or should I say Eagle-eyed Eddie after the advent of Lasik ).

Since he'd recently stumbled into the seedy world of gay saunas, Eddie regaled me with some of his more... risque experiences while I probably bored him with some of my more sedate travelogues. However not long after that we somehow veered inexplicably towards children when he mentioned that he wasn't a big fan.

Eddie : You actually want kids?
Paul : Who knows? Maybe someday.
Eddie : Never thought of kids.
Paul : None at all? Not even a pet? A houseplant?
Eddie : Not at the moment, no. Probably never though. I don't even think Danny has thought of this either. Danny hates kids.
Paul : Hates kids?

Danny hates kids?!

Astonished
Did he actually say hates kids?!

Hey, I am a realist. I know kids can be a pain sometimes. They scream and yell at inappropriate moments ( somehow fortuitously planned at the most torturously embarassing moments in public shopping areas ). They spew gooey bodily fluids out of every orifice at every inopportune moment ( just when I'm wearing some sinfully expensive silk shirt ). They set up regular howling protests with revolutionary placards whenever bedtime is near.

Trust me, I babysit on semi-regular occasions with doubtful results :)

But my occasionally nightmarish experiences with my niece and nephew certainly hasn't put me off children. As a matter of fact, it has made me long to be a dad even more.

Now no worries, don't panic. I'm certainly not going to pull a Jolie, rush off to some troubled developing banana republic and pick out a cute kid from an adoption line-up.

Hell, I haven't even picked Charming Calvin's brains on children. For all I know the man wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole. Not everyone thinks like me, that's for sure. After all most gay men I know wouldn't drive of giving up their designer tees and thumpa thumpa clubbing nights for soggy diapers and midnight feeds.

But that didn't stop me from accidentally stumbling into an adoption site. :) Makes for interesting reading. Now for a bit of trivia, betcha didn't know that single men in Malaysia could only adopt boys.

15 comments:

Brian said...

hey Paul. actually, i do know. coz i read Radzuan Radzwill [sp] or some male designer in some paper - featured adopting a son, and he said that he could only adopt a boy. this was a couple of years back.

good for you. :D you remind me of Will [of Will & Grace]...

***

i do hope when i graduate, there's an off-chance that i'll meet you in one of the conferences too :D

Ryan said...

Ahhh... adopting. That idea crossed my mind though. I even plan to join the World Vision, sponsor a kid.

Well, I still don't think I am ready to become a dad. Still learning become a better person and finding my true-self.

Melvin Mah said...

woo woo...excited* join world vision and sponsor a kid!!!! I'm sponsoring one cute little boy..haha....call me Dad~

poof said...

Hmmm how are you going to start describing to your son that two daddies = one mummy n daddy?

Im already thinking about the pros n cons of walking the path of gay daddies already

but hey, you still have nature's instinct of fathering... lol

rainbow angeles said...

Izit that easy to adopt? I mean for single ppl? O.o Care to reveal the site? Please please, pweety pleaseee? ^.^

A Lewis said...

So, what's the difference between a "raging homo" (that you've described well) and just a plain old generic homo?
I'm liking kids less and less....as I get older and older!

gorjess said...

i love kids as long as its not my own.

Anonymous said...

I consider myself intelligent and informed, but I did NOT know that single men in Malaysia could only adopt boys. Makes me wonder at what point the human beings will stop evaluating a person based on gender or sexuality or skin color and move up the food chain to take our rightful place as "evolved beings."

~D
http://sexywhispers.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

I want kids, so that I don't have to die alone when I get old.

Jason said...

Well, adopt a kid would be fun only if there's not need of diapers changing :)

daniel henry said...

heh. yea i know home is the best. you want a kid right? adopt me then. haha.
well i need to grow up silly, that's why i need to see how life is like living away from home. everything is just so easy at home, got maid and cash... i will die if me parents are gone. choi choi. come adopt me! haha.

Unknown said...

so sweet.
but i dun like kids..only until they know how 2 change own diaper n behave.

nemesis-on-fire said...

i love kids.

would want one someday, but i'm not as financially stable to have one now.

man optional :P

hey Paul, when are u leaving for shanghai again? i hope u have a really good time there! bring back the stories, ok? ;)

William said...

Kids are fun, as long as they're not mine.

savante said...

Seriously, brian? I gotta google that!

But the World Vision kid is miles away, ryan and m5lvin! I mean it's great but a lil too Daddy Long legs for me.

Will take it one day at a time, gauzzel :)

Not easy, angel. Just read the conditions.

Well the homos are raging, lewis :P

GASP, gorgess!

Didn't know myself until I read it the other day, d.

Aren't you too young to talk about dying old, calvin?

Changing diapers isn't a problem, jason. Washing up is :P

Planned on a younger child to try my parenting skills first, daniel henry :P

Takes a while before that happens, soloact!

So do I, nemesis. I'm leaving for Beijing actually :)

But what's the fun in that, william!

Paul