Bob Lin

Bob Lin, my second 'victim' :)

I met Bob at some orientation day lecture for uni.

If I remember correctly, he was sitting towards the back and I must have sat near him or next to him. I'm glad I met him on that day because he has proven himself a good friend :)

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Bob is his courtesy and respectfulness in one-on-one conversation, particularly when talking about things that have happened to each person ("catch up" time, if you will).

I find that Bob is not quick to judge or assume something about someone, and always genuinely has an interest in what you have to say. He engages in conversation well and is open to lots of ideas and thoughts. Like most of our friends, I think Bob is also very objective and reasonable in the way he analyses things. I also find that he respects your privacy and is somewhat sensitive to your thoughts. Of course, this is not to say that no one else I know does this (LOL), but what I AM saying is that I find that these traits are, at least to my mind, apparent in Bob.

For example, on one occasion I have a vague memory of Bob asking me about something to which I gave a half-hearted ambiguous answer. I suspect it must have been on a topic I didn't want to talk about (I can't recall). Despite my terrible cop-out answer, I noticed that Bob did not press me further and he just cheerfully changed the topic. At the time I remember thinking that was very good of him. He accommodated my desire to have a bit of personal space.

On another occasion, I recall Bob lecturing someone (say, "X") who had been constantly pestering me about a topic I didn't want to talk about. I recall Bob later saying words to the following effect:

"X, you kept asking Andre about this when it was obvious he didn't want to talk about it. I don't think you should have done that, it was disrespectful."

I was surprised by this response, but once again, I thought that was very good of him too. He spoke up on my behalf without me even saying anything.

In conclusion, beneath the jokes and laughter to which you will no doubt encounter with Bob, I feel Bob is an empathetic person underneath.

On a more trivial note, I think it was on Bob's initiative that I learned how to appreciate the Subway Meatball Footlong. It is difficult not to convert to his philosophy when comments such as these are commonplace:

 "Pizza subs are good...except they don't have enough meat in them. You should try the meatball footlong instead, it has more meat."

(This may or may not explain why he is such good friends with Nick Onie.)

Andre Lim