Life is like an onion...

you peel it layer by layer and sometimes you cry.

Every new chapter in our life can be likened to an onion, maybe a big red one. Which will have many layers of course.

Which reminds me...

When I was a young boy, my mum asked me to go buy some onions. I got on my bicycle, and got to the shop. I spent about a quarter of an hour picking those onions, which I knew were going to be used for dinner. I got home soon after.

About the time when I figure my mum was going to chop the onions, she screamed for me. I'm sure she asked for onions only... so what could be the problem? I went into the kitchen, and my mum showed me the onions that I painstakingly picked.

"What's this??"

I could swear they were onions (what else could they be?), but at moments like that, you begin to doubt yourself. You should never get a woman in a kitchen angry. Here was one, a very livid one at that.

"Onions...?"

Not the answer she was looking for.

"They're all spoilt!"

"Huh?"

No way.

"But I made sure I picked the softest ones..."

My mum was very angry.

If I remember correctly, she then burst out laughing. I was very confused. She managed to ask me to go away. I did. Still confused.

Later in the day, after my whole family was told about the 'incident', I found out that onions, at the point of buying, should be firm. They get soft at the point of cooking...

It's been nearly fifteen years since that.

I never imagined that buying (the wrong) onions will teach me so much.

It was the first (and till today, the only) time my mum ever asked me to buy onions, and I had never bought onions before that. So things could go wrong. I secretly still blame her for it.

I was poring over and caressing each bulb of onion, feeling it's texture and gently squeezing it to find the ones with the right level of softness. I can imagine the amazement of the other shoppers, a young boy with such particularity over his onions.

The cashier-lady. What was she thinking of, me bringing the abolute worst ones to the counter?

*******

Always know clearly what people want before helping them with it. People who seem to be very deft and assured doing whatever it is they are doing, may not always know what they are doing... though pretending to be is a good way to impress people! People will not always tell you if you are on the wrong path. They may just encourage you along, due to indifference or ingnorance. And it's always good to allow a laugh at your mistakes, provided you get the joke.

My onions and I :-)

I've got a big fat red onion in front of me now. Let's see how well I peel it. I hope a little better that the last big fat red onion I had not too long ago...