Dennis

On my way back from Thailand I had the pleasure of having a genuine conversation with a mere stranger that went on for almost four hours..

Before i lie here before you the contents of the conversation I would like to share with you my state of mind on that mini-bus back to Malaysia.

for a while now I have been questioning my decision to pursue engineering seeing that it is clearly not my passion. Those questions were aroused after my 8 months of internship in my future Egyptian company, i don't want to sound ungrateful but i kinda know that i am not going to be a "brilliant engineer".

I always used to think that you have to work really really hard to earn your happiness even if this meant you being unhappy or failing to rise up to the expectation; you have to swallow that all in and kill yourself to live up to the expectations of those who care for you (father, mother, brother, girlfriend, friends......)

After my short trip to Thailand I was questioning all my Goals in life . what do i really wanna do with my life. Will I be happy in the future ? Should I just live the lives of my parents and work really hard for my kids and family? Have I made the right choices in my life so far? Did I have enough fun during my university days? When i am 45 will i look back and regret the small choices that I made when I was just 17 years old??

People say that the best conversation you could have is a conversation with a stranger. This conversation did not give me any answers but it sure was a living example for me (i think so......)

On my way back from Thailand my luck got me to sit next to an old European looking guy after the seats next to the two Norwegian girls were taken by Z. I was really curious why would this sophisticated looking guy ride a cheap ride like this one instead of just flying to Malaysia .

he had white hair and looked well into his 50's he wore an ironed tucked shirt and carried an old laptop bag as a suitcase (I thought this was really cheap), he wore a designer's watch but it looked old and it had a broken link but definitely this watch looked good when it was a new one.

i wanted to start up a conversation but i was too shy i mean what possibly could we have in common ?! it was Only when Z told the girls that it was his honor to be the first Egyptian that they met traveling that me and the guy laughed out-loud at the cheesy line by my friend (Who hooked up BTW).

So we started talking randomly i started by asking him where he was going

He was going to renew his visa from Malaysia he worked in a friends tourist agency designing flyers!!

After some random questions i was able to ask him indirectly "what's your story?"

His name was Dennis he was almost 56, he is currently married to a Thai woman working in the same agency as he is.

Dennis started his life out as an electric engineer he actually wanted to pursue architecture but he couldn't afford it and his father didn't support him so he went to electrical engineering school .he worked in the most profitable engineering industry which is the oil and gas industry, he designed control panels back in the mid 80's he was married to his college sweetheart and he apparently made really good money and he was well thought of in his family and close community.

Although Dennis looked happy but he faced a huge problem. Dennis never felt challenged in his job and always seemed to have met a dead end as he did not find joy in designing electric control panels. Dennis was a lead engineer designing a very high tech electronic control panel in the middle of the north sea (the roughest sea on earth) for an offshore oil platform and he didn’t feel challenged!!!!!

so after 9 years of experience and at the age of 29 and with a wife to feed Dennis decided to change his career. He didn’t really know what to do but he knew he liked traveling so he went to help a friend in his father’s hotel he worked their random jobs and had a low salary, when he made that decision the whole family disapproved his brothers thought he was crazy to throw away good pay and stability for a rubbish job, but he went through with his decision.

After two years at the hotel he got a job opportunity to supervise the construction of a resort in France that was placed next to Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours which is an F1 circuit. after the construction was over Dennis managed the resort which accommodated all the F1 drivers and their parties and activities, not only that the resort was a haven in the middle of a French forest that attracted many celebrities all year long. He had a good time there.

Dennis then moved to Spain where he bought his first boat there a 13 feet sailing boat u know that type that every guy dreams of having? With a sail a string motor and a perfect cabin to take your “wife” in. Dennis cruised most of the Mediterranean with his 13 footer. He told me that once he was caught in a storm a really big storm where he almost died but he was able to bring the boat back to saftey. He told me that in that storm he faced death in the eye and had 4 passengers lives to think about but he was able to maneuver his boat to the coastline.

After that Dennis moved to the USA for another job offer where he managed a 3 acre ranch in Arizona which is according to his words as good as a life can get sort of estate . At this point Dennis was changing sports cars every year he had his accommodation paid for, lived in a beautiful place and made some good money.

At this point i wanted to ask Dennis a simple question of whether or not he regretted leaving engineering?

I think he misunderstood me cause then he told me: " the only thing that i regret is losing my wife...... I had a great wife .... She didn't fight with me regarding money or almost anything else .... but when i was in the MONEY GOT TO MY HEAD....and i went on to screw another lady ....this ended my marriage"

After that Dennis left the US back to Europe in which he bought a motorcycle and he cycled around most of Europe from England he went south till Italy and Spain up till France and then back to England.

From there he decided that he was sick of Europe and wanted to go to asia.

it's not really clear what happened then but now he is married to a Thai lady and works in a friends shop designing flyers on Photoshop, he is too lazy to get a permanent VISA cause every year for the past 8 he thinks that he is gonna leave this year but he just doesn't .Both his parents are dead so apparently he has no reason to go back home. it has been almost 10 years now since his last visit to England.

When I asked Dennis again if he regretted leaving engineering to pursue this life? He told me that his buddy Tom from the engineering company is currently retired after almost forty years in the industry. Tom made a lot of money and currently he enjoys two things in life Golf & drinking ( apparently he drinks too much because Dennis made this gesture with his hand it was hilarious).

We discussed alot more stuff and he had many other interesting stories but I've already kept you reading for too long.

Instead of being an example for a life i could live, instead of being the answer Dennis left me with more questions!!

1. Was it right to go against his whole family and upset his dad by leaving his job?

2. Why didn't he have any stability (moving from one country to another) and did that turn out to his benefit?

3. What did he accomplish in his life?

4. What will be his legacy?

5. Can humanbiengs ever be fully satisfied? I mean Dennis had a perfect life p till the USA but did he have to go and ruin it(his betrayal to his wife)?

6. Would he have been happier as a pioneer engineer in his field making Shit load of money?

7. Is Tom really as miserable as he says he is?

8. Is Dennis really as happy as he says? i mean yes he has seen it all and had all kinds of fun but let’s face it he is 56 riding an 18 hour bus to renew his VISA every 3 months living in a third world country working an 18 year older's job in a friend's company making fliers??!!

9. will i ever have the courage like Dennis to take a life changing decision despite what my loved ones expect from me?

Finally I was left up with the biggest question haunting me till now

AM I GONNA END UP HAPPY?????