Just Say No

I've always been just a bit outspoken.

Quite the understatement actually since my brash tactlessness ( and unbridled tongue ) frequently lands me in hot soup - but a few grazes and burns never hurt me. Certainly gave me a tougher hide to bear the relentless, harsh slings and arrows of fate. Came to my forthright manner quite naturally since my mother isn't exactly known for keeping her trenchant opinions to herself as well.

Which is why it frequently irks me when folks remain reticent about their true feelings refusing to voice out their sentiments. My fellow colleagues for one thing - relentlessly churned out by our local gradgrind universities and made to follow the subservient yes-men pack, most of them wouldn't know how to make a stand even if it killed them. Rather than rock the boat and make a change for the better, they prefer to behave like obedient lemmings instead.

Hoping that someone else would risk making that revolutionary change.

Make no mistake. I'm a pretty shy, reserved fella but when I want something badly enough, I make no apologies about making it known. In big, clear capital letters marked in traffic red if need be. Taken a while for me to gain the confidence but these days, just saying no seems to be getting easier for me.

Certainly don't need tutorials to do so.


Stand up for your rights!
Unlike Jane who forgets herself and her needs in a hopelessly tragic bid to please everyone else. Idealistic, romantic and completely selfless - the perennial bridesmaid whose own happy ending is nowhere in sight despite going through 27 Dresses. Lacking the sheer chutzpah to just speak up about her hidden emotions - even allowing the man she obviously cares about to ride off into the sunset with her conniving sister without making a peep. Hell, she can't even say no to organizing their wedding.

Me. I'd have been livid.

Not that I'd have said no ( after all I LOVE weddings ) - but hell, I'd have sabotaged the proposed wedding to bits. Hello. Someone stealing my dream guy? You'd better believe that I'd work to stop it!

Certainly help drive his partner stir-crazy up the wall during the preparation forcing her into psycho Bridezilla mode just to showcase all her unflattering qualities. Trust me, Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding has nothing on me.

Paul : Sorry the caterer can't make it. They only managed to send us sandwiches and sprite.
Bride : W-what?
Paul : The band is caught in the rain. The violinist has the flu. There's a marimba quartet out there though.
Bride : What!?
Paul : So sorry. The cake's arrived but it's the wrong one. Etched in black with red letterings, it was meant for a Gothic Harajuku party.
Bride : WHAT?!
Paul : Oh, wait latest news, I think the groom's been sent to the wrong church.
Bride : Are you fucking kidding me?!
Paul : By the way, your dress. I think you just spilled some wine on it.

I ain't no saint.

Far from being such a villainous monster, Katherine Heigl certainly makes our selfless plain Jane likeable enough in this sweet rom-com. Anyone else I'd probably have the homicidal urge to strangle for showing such a serious lack of spine. Instead of kidnapping her dream bachelor as I would have done, she represses her emotions, stows away her frustrations and proceeds to help with planning their wedding instead.

Just because she can't say no.


As you can see, a lil bit of selflessness isn't all that bad if it lands you James Marsden. Seriously. My favourite scene in the movie.

Though you gotta admit it's hard to imagine a gorgeous thing like Miss Heigl literally going through 27 bridesmaid dresses without snagging a straight guy. Or anyone turning down hunky James Marsden practically begging for a date.