Later

Hebe, like most of the others in her days, could not find a place to take care of her mother, who passed away - or we should say faded away some time after her 100th birthday.

Time flies. Hebe herself is expecting her 80th birthday tomorrow. But, unlikely her mother, she does not become old. Quite the opposite. Thanks to the effort and donation of Maxima, Hebe is more energetic than ever. She pursued a career of politics after retiring as a school teacher, and became a backbencher last year. Today she is going to speak in the parliament.

It is about the proposal that the age of retirement should be deferred to 80, and she feels slightly uncertain which side to take. As always, she decides to have a drink in the Strangers' Bar so as to arrange her ideas.

Well, it is never easy to get a moment of peace in the Palace of Westminster. As soon as Hebe takes her first sip of whisky soda, she finds Athena sitting down next to her.

"You look puzzled. Is it about the age of retirement business?" The goddess of wisdom asks.

Aging

(The conversation in front of the elderly home continued.)

"Why should we blame them? The intention of the internet entrepreneur and his wife was very good to begin with," Hebe said, "And they were unexpectedly successful..."

"Very true. As a result of their good work - or really their generous donations - all diseases are eradicated. We end up having everyone to live for a hundred years and die of senility!"

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Madam, it is a fantastic happening as long as their family and the society do not have to take care of them. At this moment, one third of our population is over the age of 65, nursing home attendent is the top career amongst the working class, and one third of the government expenditure is used for the care of old people. To put it simply, the society has become a gigantic elderly home. And, madam, that's why we have no vacancy for your mother - the demand is so high!"

"I see. Sir, don't be disappointed with Mark and Priscilla, and there is always hope," Hebe said, "I just learn from the news that Maxima, their daughter, has set up another fund to eradicate aging in the coming 50 years..."

"You call that hope?" The elderly home owner said incredulously.

Vacancy

Hebe feels hopeless.

She is standing in front of a small white building. An elderly home to be exact. This is the seventh one of the same kind that she visited in the past two days. None of the previous six gave her good news.

"Well, that's life," she says to herself, takes a deep breath, and presses on the doorbell.

In no time the heavy door opens a little - just enough for one eye of whoever behind the door to peep out.

"Madam, what's the matter?" The whoever says with a skeptical voice.

"Good afternoon. My name is Hebe. I'm looking for an elderly home vacancy to accommodate my mother. She is 85 and a bit frail, but has absolutely no disease to worry about..."

"No place. No place for anyone!" The skeptical voice turns agitated, "And, nowadays, who on earth has any disease? That's exactly why all elderly homes on earth are runny out of vacancy. Should we thank Mark and Priscilla?"

預防

K呆了一會。忽然他看見這家M記的經理走過，便拿着自己剛買的晚餐走過去。

「老友，你竟然敢叫這種垃圾食物做健康餐！？」他嚷著。

「先生，你稍安毋燥。」那中年經理嘴角掀了一下，似笑非笑地說：「健康是個主觀的感覺，但我們的宣傳資料卻絕對正確。」

「正確個鳥……」

「先生，你可曾有聽過有每天吃我們的雙層肥肉芝士漢堡的人死於癌症的？」

「當然沒有，他們都老早有心臟病，掛了！」

「這個自然。他們只是不生癌症，卻不是能永生不死呀！進一步說，他們有心臟病，可能是我們的食物預防癌症太有效了。」

快餐

離開辨公室時K抬頭一看，天已經全黑了。他累得身體似乎不是屬於自己的，但出乎意料地他還懂得感到肚餓。噢，别說自己弄飯，他連多走幾步找家像樣一點的餐廳晚飯也提不起勁。「就M記吧！」他自言自語的說。

快餐店就在街角，K推門而入，望望四周，一切還是老樣子。當然，這星期他已是第三次來吃晚飯――而今天只不過是星期四。

嗯，不，有點不同。售餐處上面的螢光幕新放了一個醒目的廣告。

「新發売健康餐――每日一餐，有效預防癌症。超過三十年臨床研究發現能減低癌症死亡機會百分之九十九。只售$19.9」

**************************

「一客健康餐。」K毫不猶豫地對售餐的服務員說。

不消一分鐘食物已送到，K急不及待打開一看，便――正如他們所說――不禁倒抽一口凉氣。

那是雙層肥肉芝士漢堡加特大薯條和巴菲特飲。

PS. As to the favourite drink of Mr Warren Buffett, it is well described in most financial magazines. You may also want to refer to Snowball.

Professional

"Alas - then what is yours?" I pressed on.

"My consideration is simple," L explained, "Take the medical profession as an example. Even though one may be working in a field that he is interested in, it is rather unlikely that he would love each and every aspect of the field."

"What do you mean?"

"Say, if you are inspired by the renowned professor of that green medical school and become a gastroenterologist and love the subject very much, it remains most probable that you may not like the entire subject. People who like lumenal disease often find metabolic liver disease boring. People who prefer to read up nucleoside analogs probably do not enjoy handling endoscopy. A brilliant clinician may be mad when being called in the middle of the night to treat a patient with massive hematemesis..."

"I see what you mean: An amateur can focus on the aspect that he feels interest in and forget about the rest. As a genuine gastroenterologist, however, one must perform up to the standard even in aspects that he finds repugnant."

Change

(My discussion with L continued.)

"My friend, there is a weakness in your argument." L said.

"And that is...?"

"It is obviously true that we often cannot choose our occupation, but, can't we alter what we love? If the circumstances make you a nephrologist rather than some position that you love - say, a neurosurgeon - wouldn't it be possible that you gradually change your mind, find the new subject interesting, and fall in love with it?"

"You may be right," I paused for a moment, "But, after reading Carol Dweck recently, I could say with confidence that not everyone could change their mind that easily. In fact, I suspect the ability to change one's own mind is inborn and fixed per se. A good many people are stuck with the unfortunate cul-de-sac that they have to endure an unbearable job."

My friend smile, "Absolutely. But that's not my point..."

Amateur

After a moment of silence, L suddenly decided to change the topic, "My friend, do you love your job?"

"What a question!" I laughed, "It's my job - that's all. True, there are gratifying moments, but I have enough hard times to compensate my reward. Why do you ask that?"

"Alas, I am just inspired recently by the head of a green medical school. He loves his job so much!"

"I must say that's a blessing. Many a time we cannot really choose our occupation - and, in general, we cannot alter what we love. Therefore, it is really a happy coincidence to have the two matched."

"You may be right, and, for those who try their very best for a job that they don't really like, a famous saying just flashes through my mind."

"Which?"

"An amateur performs well on what he likes; a professional also performs well on what he doesn't like."

"Should I thank you for the compliment?" I could not stop smiling.

PS. The original quote should be: An amateur learns what he likes; a professional also learns what he doesn't like.

蔡瀾

我當然曉得。正因為「這個菜很好吃」和「這個菜是很好吃的」一類的毫厘差異，我很喜歡看蔡瀾從前在《壹週刊》寫的《未能食素》。

平心而論，蔡先生的口味殊不從眾，對菜式的評論也間或偏頗。但他的文章卻極具娛樂性，遇上不頰意的食肆 ，除了秉筆直書外，嘻笑怒駡有之，明褒暗貶有之，更甚是有時或怯於對方由有勢力人士撑腰，便不得已欲言又止，於留白處陽秋。一般人看了不知就裡，以為按圖索驥，便不免大失所望。然而心思複雜者，細嚼良久，豁然有悟，自當忍俊不禁。

或如蔡先生所言，魚鮮味者必多刺。文章佳妙者亦每多微言伏筆，啖之，俱是有骨落地也。

中文

歸家路上遇到L，他說：「中文真是一種垂死的文字。」
我說：「這話不錯。前些時我偶然用了幾個較冷僻的四字成語，一群大學生中竟無一個懂得。」
「是哪些成語？」他問。
「含枚疾走、鶴籌添算、明夷待訪、懷璧其罪……」
「啊呀！這些蝌蚪文唯一的作用便是酸秀才拿來拋書包……」
「那麼你認為怎樣才算懂得中文？」
「如果一個人曉得『這菜很好吃』和『這菜是很好吃的』的分別，便可說是粗通中文了。」

Mindset

Recently read: Carol Dweck 《Mindset》

Another book that tries to explain everything by a simple idea.

馮婦

愛因斯坦說：「閱讀太多，應用太少，就會懶於思考。」

所以，訓練獨立思考的最好方法是寫作，而不（只）是閱讀。

See: http://www.managertoday.com.tw/columns/view/52205