Uncle Bob

Uncle Bob is an old man suffering from athritis. He first surfaced years ago when I used to answer one of my ex-colleague's phone all the time. After the ex-colleague left and another ex-colleague got transferred over, I was finally introduced to Uncle Bob face to face. Thereafter, he never ceased calling either my ex-colleague or me. Once he even sent us two big birthday cakes for each of us. There were times when he'd call almost every day or twice a day sometimes. Finally, we had to take turns answering his calls and telling white lies that each of us were not around when he called. I'm not sure if this happened but my ex-boss could've called him to tell him not to call anymore because at one point of time, we didn't receive any calls from him for a long time.

But alas, my ex-colleague and my ex-boss remain exes till today. Uncle Bob has been calling me a lot ever since. I can almost guarantee that he'd call every two days. But I have no heart to tell an old man seeking for attention and friendship not to call. How can I when he calls just to tell me not to eat chicken as the birds in my work area were infected?

So anyway, today he called. He wanted to matchmake me to his sister-in-law's neighbour who lives in PJ. I remember telling him I have found someone but I guess due to his age, he lost this part of the memory. I tried to tell him that I would not go through awkward situations like this but he makes it sound that I am ungrateful for all that he's done (as usual). He keeps insisting that it's just a small gathering of friends, having dinner somewhere.

Gawd! I sure wish that I still had an ex-colleague who would take turns picking up the phone and telling him that either one of us are not around. Maybe I should introduce him to someone else in this department...or maybe introduce him to ALL the Customer Service staff here so that he gets too entertained that he forgets I'm around?