Can I ask you a favor? and the monkey story

We all sometimes have things to ask of people, maybe favors, embarrassing questions, asking someone out, asking for something you need...etc. Some people are too embarrassed to ask, or they fear rejections. These, in my opinion miss out on a lot of good things that could be given to them should they have had the courage to ask. On the other hand, some people are quite comfortable with asking you any favor however big, and really get offended when you say no. These being bolder, are often met with acceptance, but sometimes just because you are cornered into saying yes.. so you do the favor, but do it unwillingly.
Trying to find middle ground between the two extremes; I came up with a technique. What I do is, I ask the question straight forward (men3'eir laff wala dawaran), yet manage to leave a way out. And if the person replies willingly, great. If they kept silence or commented on the way out, then ideally, I'd wrap it up and feel no offense. Here are some examples:
- I would have asked to borrow your black top, but I'm sure you'd need it through the week.
- I would have asked you out, if I wasn't sure you are already dating.
-Do me a favor; will you blah blah blah , for me. Actually, on second though, don't! I'm sure you don't do favors when it comes to your job. Nice technique, right!?

For some weird reason I decided to re-publish my first few "writings", which have all been published to the PTP egroup, and now I'd like to take them out to the public on this blog and tagging them under "old post". Here's the first:

The monkey story

Not so long ago, there was a little girl. This girl was not so special in any way. Like all the girls she had her good and bad points. As time went by, the little girl started to feel lonely and wanted to get a pet. Everybody told her to get a pony. "Ponies are loyal" everyone would say, "Once they are with you, they never push you away". But every time the girl went to play with a pony, the pony would turn and walk away. Ponies didn't like to play with her and she always said, "It's okay, I didn't like the pony that much
anyway. He was boring."

But one day when she was walking near the pet shop she saw a monkey looking at her. She never liked monkeys but this one looked cute. When the monkey saw her looking, he started to make faces so the
little girl smiles. At first, she turned away. Second day in the pet shop, the girl walks in, and the monkey tries hard to make faces so she would smile. The girl smiles but is so scared, she doesn't know how to take care of a monkey; everyone she knows has a pony. Days went by and every time she would walk in the pet shop she would look at the monkey and the monkey will make a face so she would smile. Finally, the girl decided to take the risk and get the monkey.

After a while, the girl felt grateful for the monkey who always made her smile and she too, started to make faces so the monkey smiles. She realized that when the monkey smiled the whole world looked better. The monkey and the girl became the closest friends. They would do everything together. The girl told the monkey all her secrets and dreams. The monkey told the girl his dreams of being the world most famous circus monkey and the girl promised to help him. He took her to the circus and to the jungle. She didn't really like the jungle but went with the monkey because it made him happy. She used to think…" he is the best monkey ever….he is so cute and so funny…. I am so lucky that this monkey is mine…."

But one day, the monkey got sick. At first he would sometimes laugh and sometimes cry, but he was nice to the girl who tried hard to make him smile. Then the monkey got worse, he hardly laughed and always cried and was sometimes mean to the girl. By then, all the girls' friends and family told her to let the monkey go. "Pets like that never appreciate you" they said, "he will never be the same and will always make you cry". But the girl told them,"No, not MY monkey". After all, she can always remember how the monkey tried hard to make her smile.


Time went on, and the monkey got so sick he had to go to the hospital. The girl would call him everyday to make sure he is okay but after a while he stopped talking to her. The girl was hurt and started to cry, she loved the monkey; he was her best friend. She wanted to take all his sickness and his tears away but she couldn't and now the monkey doesn't want to talk to her. She waited and prayed that the monkey gets better. He would talk to her one day and refuse to speak for ten. But she thought "as long as there is hope,
I will call the monkey to make sure he is okay". Her friends would say "It's not too late to look for a good pony" but she felt her monkey will be okay.

The monkey got slightly better and went out to play in the jungle. The girl doesn't know her way in the jungle very well but she put on her best dress and searched for hours until she found the monkey. She thought she can finally play with the monkey like they used to, go to the circus and to the jungle but when she saw the monkey, he was strange. He didn't smile when he saw her. He even looked different, she couldn't recognize him if it weren't for his red t- shirt. But she thought she shouldn't give up and remembered how the monkey tried so hard to make her smile when she first saw him. She told the monkey she wants to play but the monkey said "Not today". The girl cried and cried because she felt very lonely and scared; the monkey doesn't love her anymore, they are not that close it seems, maybe not even friends. But when she remembered the first time the monkey made faces to make her smile she decided to
hold on and be strong. One day the monkey would feel better and he will ask her to come and play… he will be the world most famous circus monkey and he will make her smile everyday.

Everyday the monkey went to play and the girl sat there in her best dress so the monkey would ask her to play but he never did. The girl thought that if she swallowed her pride and asks the monkey to play he would be happy. "Maybe", she said "the monkey is too shy to ask me to play". She went to the monkey and smiled. She said "Let's play hide and seek. You can hide…I know it's your favorite". The monkey pushed her away so hard and he shouted "You stupid girl, I don'twant to play with you ever again. Don't you get it?"

The girl was shocked. What could she have done to make the monkey so angry? She only wanted to play, like they used to, in the good old days. But his push was so hard; it broke her heart. His voice was so
loud; it made her cry. The girl couldn't stop crying and she waited for the monkey to come and ask her to play for days and days. But he never did.

I'm not so sure what happened next. Some say, the girl gave up, and got a pony, like everyone told her to, "at least, ponies won't push her away". Some say, she gave up on pets, she lived her life lonely because the monkey broke her heart. Some say, she waited for the monkey but as time passed by she cried so much and drowned in her own tears. Personally, I'd like to think that the girl is still waiting for the monkey to come and ask her to play.

Enough talk about the girl. Who cares about her anyway? This is the "Monkey Story". What do you think happened with the monkey?
(24 October 2004)


You'd probably realize this is a very miserable story. It goes back to a time when I was hurt , vunerable and pathetic. FYI, the girl survived, got better and is now doing great. The monkey is still sick and wasted!