Miss Saigon and Mr Hypocrite

I have always had more female colleagues in my career. The line of work that I do appeals to more women than men. And when I travel in a group for work, the women outnumber the men. But with this company, there are more men in another department that I work closely with. We were all in Vietnam for a 3-day planning meeting.

There's a particular colleague who's a first-time dad. He was missing his little 2-year old boy at the meeting and was talking to me about it. And about how his little kid didn't want to speak to him because the kid was upset that his daddy wasn't around. I felt for him because when Danial was very little, I felt those pangs of sadness every time I had to go away for work.

So I ended up sitting with him at lunch and break time to cheer him up and so that he could talk about his little boy.

Little did I know, him missing his child and wife is not a long-term issue. Come 10pm every night, it's party time for him and all thoughts about family is put on hold. Worse still, those who were pub crawling have seen him (and the other men in the group we travelled with) with local women, the type who prowl the streets at night.

To say I am truly disgusted is an understatement. Someone said to me that men can compartmentalise these things and to them, hooking up with other women when they are away from home is not a big deal. It is to me. And being a hypocrite is an even bigger deal.

I'm waiting for the time when the same colleague will speak to me again about his child. And if he does, he's going to get a big surprise from me.