“What you doing, bro?” I blurted into the phone.
“Same old thing: Writing cheques to pay very angry creditors with money the company does not have. What did you think?” Jamal replied (real name withheld to protect the guilty).
“Again? I think you’re not allowed to do that, Jamal”
“I’ll be dammed if I don’t do anything about this mess. I’ll find the money to cover these cheques, tho. However, it won’t come from my useless shareholders, I can assure you that!”
Jamal is your regular go-to guy, a Mr Fixit extraordinaire whose resourcefulness and tenacity is second to none. I had no doubt in my mind he’d be able to find the money necessary to cover the cheques when the time came; but my heart bled a little for him.
Given his skills and gumption, Jamal should by right, be drawing a five-figure monthly income at some major corporation somewhere. Instead, because he hasn’t got a degree to show potential employers during an interview, he is now only a manager (in an obscure company) and his sole function seems to be to clean-up his shareholders’ mess – for a pittance, I might add. Got something you can’t or won’t handle? Lump it on Jamal. He’ll sort it out for us. Problem solved.
After exchanging some of our usual ribbing, I put down the phone, and felt immensely lucky. Why shouldn’t I feel lucky? Here I am, only half as smart as Jamal, and all I have to do is work half as hard as he does to earn twice as much. How much luckier can one get?
On my way out of the car park, I noticed the elderly parking lot attendant, a wiry old Chinese geezer who looks like he could have been a respected kung-fu master in his younger days. He seemed to look as if he wanted to say something to me.
I wound down my window and asked “Yes, boss! You were saying something?” (I always call him boss lest he gets pissed-off with me and kung-fus my sorry ass into next week)
“Today is a bonus, isn’t it?” he declared, smiling
“Huh? Bonus? What bonus, boss?”
“Of course! For old guys like us, every day we are not in a hospital or dead is a bonus! Right?”
Today is a bonus. I’m not going to forget this in a hurry.
What! No Tea and Scones? 
MB?No bonuses from me today for you!How come you seldom drop comments at my blog?I am going to ‘moider’ you today!
It’s a bonus that my eyes are working well for me to read your blog.
While I read your blog, all my internal organs are functioning. My stomach is not screaming for food as I have just had lunch.
I don’t have bloods flowing out from my skin.
There’s no bomb flying over my head.
No one is threatening to kill me.
I am not grieving over anyone close to me.
It is a bonus. Alhamdulillah.
bonus is living in this nation of ours, even with its warts and all
bonus is when i don’t have to get up in the morning to come to ths godforsaken place they call the office! hehehe…mumsie ni tak pandai nak bersyukur ek?!
Hai MB.Thank you again for flying swiftly into my blog.Thats a bonus for me alright.U know,its a bonus that old man reminded you to cherish life everyday.We tend to take many things for granted kan?Until we read of our dear blogger friend Raden Galoh tengah sakit yet she nak always update us with her painful experience or we hear of somebody healthy who had a hit and run accident,we never realise the precious time ticking.So thank you for sharing your bonus meeting with us.That old man is so special!Mula2 I really ingat dia nak mengecek you some pocket money which is a norm at parking bays.Rupanya dia hanya nak just a quick chat.Thats very rare.Bonuslah tu.
Dear MB,
It is a bonus indeed when you still have children, family and your love ones around you even you have none, and it is a double bonus if we still have the health to watch them grow. Thank you sir.
Never forget to be thankful for the little things. But we often forget and instead grumble and moan over very small matters that don’t go our way. Sometimes a little reminder is all it takes.
MB, come december, it is bonus time for me. I never asked for much, no roses, no diamonds – but another year together. So far it has been 29 bonuses. Alhamdulillah.
dear abang bangkai (ahem)
sometimes, these inconsequential incidents (or so we thought) are the ones that leave great impact on us and make us realise how lucky we’ve been in life.
screeeeeeech!!!!
alamak!
i was revving my funny bone to be tickled silly, only to find myself having to apply the emergency toot-sweet, bak kata omperancis. [phew!]
this is truly profound, man. thanks, mb!
[aside: gosh, lucky my brakes makan! could have run down old william’s bonus and i’d never be able to live with my own bonus. or worse, show my face here again. that must be a small bonus too, in itself. ;)]
mb said… I hope it didn’t turn out too bad for you.
of course not.
it turned out as old will probably intended it to. 🙂
scales fell off my eyes and life’s rosy tint is definitely more visible today.
i was so especially nice and sweet to my other half this morning, poorting must be still bewildered about it.
Mat,
Honestly, I can’t take this no more
that’s right! it’s a BONUS that we can live till today… appreciate on what we have and have achieved so far.
all the best!
MB?I wonder apabenda mekyam buat sampai husband dia jadi bewildered betul kan?hahaha
Sometimes I nak imitate your style of writing suspenseful stories.Takut orang boring asyik cerita pasal family je.
So I nak try tulis short stories yang you’re famous for.Boleh Sir?
Dear Kahlil Gibran,
What are you doing here and what have you done with our beloved Mr Bangkai?
*sharpens machete
Salam MB. its a bonus that i bloghopped here. you’re refreshingly like my fav juice limau.. a little tart but goes down real cool n easy lol.
i’ll be coming back for more 🙂
Abang-kai,
Nice to bump into you the other day! Love your writing.
Have you been waiting long?
matB, selamat hari raya haji to you and family!
Bugger lu bro, coming onto blogosphere without coming to pay respect.
I’ll make an offfer you can’t refuse.
Why that GRO blog went dead? Cock teaser.
Call me …Need your fuckin reflexology
New to you and your blog. Hello there MB. Keep the juices flowing. Ngee
bonus ….!!! where ??
hehehehe
like u matB, by any definition i think i have one too many already lah. errmmm, another bonus today….my gout pain subsided! thanks to zeronutric pills….
errr…was cikesahGRO u?? errrrr, pls burn all my love letters to her! LoL. hahahaha
Bonus is living through another day with my loved ones.
One of my perks in life is reading your blog (as well as other talented writers).
Finding your blog was definitely a bonus. Please update soon. Cheers.
Eh..now got comment moderation meh? Did you know I was going to comment? But I always behave myself in your comment box. lol