I have to send my daughter to tuition, I have to fetch my son from taekwando

It took me 48 years to realise I am actually a hopeless romantic. Romantic because contrary to popular belief I did ask somebody to marry me. The hopeless part was where she decided not to marry me. That had since put me off any idea of proposing to another girl ever again. It is my belief that when she spoke, she had spoken for all womankind. There's no particular reason whatsoever to doubt her judgment on the matter.

On the benefit of hindsight, I must say that that must have been one of the weakest moments in my life. I still couldn't quite figure out why on earth I had contemplated trading a carefree and unattached life for that of a husband. And god forbid, limit myself to a single partner for life. Must be the romantic side of the Gemini.

To be fair in all of 52 years I had only been in love with three women. That works out to about one every one and a half decades. Not bad at all if I say so myself. Of course we shall not take into account that I was also in love with three different Miss Universes, all of them from Venezuela. We shall also not take into account actresses such as Traci Lords, Ginger Lynn and Maria Ozawa. And a little closer to home there was one known as Natt Chanapa

But I digress. Marriage is certainly not an institution to be taken lightly. Before one decides to be institutionalised one has to take into account whether one can pay for the running of the institution and the upkeep of the inmates that would surely follow very closely.

So I suppose the best thing the girl had ever done for me was to say "NO" and bring me to my senses. While one side of Gemini may have been a weakling and heart-broken for a while at the rejection, the other wasn't. But both sides of the Gemini character, however, gladly agree that having been rejected once, there is absolutely no necessity to have repeat performances even when the lead actress may change.

I must add that I have also discovered one downside to not being married. I will, for example, not be able to say, "Sorry I am late. Had to take my daughter to tuition class." Or "I had to pick up my son from taekwando practice." Things which other fathers may take for granted but which I may never be privileged to experience.

And to all those would-be match-makers out there who said I don't know what I am missing by not getting hitched, I would like to say that I have already come to a realisation. You mean the tuition class and taekwando practice, right?

Of course there was one embarrassing incident which happened several years ago while I was at the the launch of a trade fair. You know how it is when strangers make small talk. The question used to be, "Are you married?"

But this time there was a twist to it. This man who I had just met instead asked, "Are your children still studying or are they working now?" Goodness me, do I look domesticated?

Well, what can I say except, "Well, I am not sure. But I think the bastards must be working by now..."