I recently read that someone chose to stay at the worst room in Singapore. Only to moan about it and press the eject button before the night was over.
Some news commentators wonder if it was a fair article to publish, calling the writer a “spoilt millennial”. I wasn’t surprised at all – I’ve been warning everyone of first-world problems for years.
But the whole episode prompted me to recount my own stay in a most unlikable place.
I’d been keeping tabs on the place for ages. Like that other writer I went there eyes wide open, knowing full well the horror show I’d be getting myself into.
It was full of garbage. In fact I don’t think there was a single good person there. And I had to pay a huge price to be there.
Unlike that writer, there was no way I was going to leave early. Not a chance.
It’s all about motivation. That writer “accepted the challenge” out of a “loathing of boredom”. I mean, as incentives go, it’s not much, is it?
It was different for me. I was purpose-driven. I was sent on a mission. Someone had to do it – but not just anyone. I guess you could say I was born for this.
I don’t know what was going through the writer’s head, but when you know you’re about to go on a difficult mission, you should really go prepared.
Logistics, for example. If the reviews warn you about the cleanliness of the bedsheets, just bring your own lor, no point whining about it.
Me? I just made sure to bring the cup I’d been given.
So when you find yourself in a bad situation, how do you respond? The writer said he took his mind off things by hitting social media, scanning Instagram feeds, to take his mind off things.
Again, I don’t get it. I mean, I guess I was also busy gaining followers, but really, if you’re somewhere for a reason, don’t run away from it! Just do the job you were sent to do!
And then he mentioned that at some point, he briefly fell asleep, which came to him as a blessed relief. Sleep? Bad move.
Finally, he can’t take it anymore. Before it’s time to check out, before he’s properly done his job so he can tell everyone that it is finished, he … cops out. Escapes. Quits.
Me? Never. If I left, what would have happened to this place, Earth, and all the people in it?
It’s really simple. My Father sent me to bring hope and offer eternal life. The suffering was part of the deal – the price had to be paid for the sin of all mankind. I knew that. I knew I’d have to live with the grime of life and the horrors of humanity.
You think a smelly toilet and a couple of cockroaches is bad? Remember, I come from a place where there are no tears – no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain. Relatively speaking, at least in terms of where I used to stay and where I had to spend a short period, I think I had it a bit worse than that writer.
But it had to be done.
Why? You, of course.
I did it for you.
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:14, 15, 17)
