Before I proceed. An introduction is necessary. I have this group of friends consisting of 6 other lovely ladies. Being the child that we were, we call ourselves the Meletopians because why not? (the name is actually the contribution of a former member of the group who removed herself from the group on her own volition. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors. We kept the name)
And as per normal we created a group chat in whatsapp. So now the misadventure. A member, lets call her Ms X, lived in a different state than the rest of the group. She came to town last weekend. So in anticipation of her visits, plans to meet up were made. Ms X and two other friends were supposed to meet on a Sunday afternoon. So on Sunday morning, the two ppl going to the meet discussed their plans and asked for confirmation from Ms X on time to meet. There was no reply. Naturally, we all thought Ms X must have forgotten. Prompting in the group chat did not produce reply from Ms X.
Come Monday, we got worried. A look at her chat showed she was last seen on FRIDAY. No matter we kept our cool (we really didn't). We tried to call but her phone was turned off. Her facebook showed she last logged on on SATURDAY. And a friend even posted on her wall on SATURDAY asking where she was as she could not be contacted on her phone.
We called HER OFFICE who informed her firstly, she was at Court. So we were relieved and accepted this. ONLY!! Another member and myself called the office again on two separate times to see if she was back. I was told Ms X was in Court. My friend was told Ms X was on vacation. Further prodding to the STUPID office finally revealed that the Office had NO CLUE where she was. (Honestly if this was a real emergency, that hours when we believed she was in Court and not actually missing, well that could've killed her)
Finally we tracked down her house phone number and she was alive. THE END.
P/s: Her phone malfunctioned and DIED. And she didn't memorized any of our numbers.
P/s/s: We really should've had her family's phone numbers for emergencies. There was some other events to the story.We wouldn't have been as panicked as we were based on the above only. But i thought the story had zest ending the way it did. Hahaha.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Strangers & Friends
Maybe I have been a little harsh and judgmental of my community. In truth my perception comes from my own experiences of people who live up to their stereotypes. But though judging people to the community they are attached are inevitable, a touch of kindness are usually around the corner. So sometimes, I hate a little less and I love a little more. I would highlight 10 simple act of kindness that I experienced myself.
1. I ALWAYS find myself with empty battery. At the worst possible times too so I would leave people wondering my fate or whether I am hurt somewhere that I am unable to be reached. This perceived paranoia is really because I myself am one. So you KNOW something is wrong (or stupid) that is causing me to be incommunicado. (I HAVE A FUNNY STORY FOR THIS. TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST)
Sometimes when you're expected somewhere but you're running late but your phone died on you. What could you do. Sometimes I realized the battery is low so I would inform people that the phone will probably die soon. But if it suddenly died on me! The horror
HAHAHA. Then I get up the courage to ask random kindly looking people for their phone enabling me to get in touch with me loved ones. And tell them basically. "I'm not dead." And people are so accommodating. Like here's my phone trusted stranger?
2. This is short but oh so important. You know in LRT and buses? In those uni days when oil price is none of my concern and bus fares are CHEAP. Like people just give up their seats naturally. And sometimes man just give seats to me for being a woman. Like chivalry is not dead ladies. I get it. It's common sense. The pregnant woman and old people needs more rest than you selfish bastards. But that's my point. Selfish bastards are just in abundance. But then not everyone are selfish bastards.. And i live for this moment when humanity is just natural...
3. When I was 15. I came to school in the morning feeling horrible. I'm certain now that it must have been just a simple teenage drama not even worth a memory 10 years later. But I go to school fairly early. I will be the fifth person in (not even kidding). And always I would sit with this girl waiting for our mutual friends to come. She was sort of a friend. We hang with the same friends but never really clicked. We were friendly strangers.
But on this particular morning. I came in hiding my sadness as best as I could (truth: i really didn't put much effort. I wear my heart on my sleeve). And this friendly stranger saw and asked this simple question. "Hey are you ok?". And the waterworks came out. She sat there just waited until I finished. And i said yes. And that was enough. I felt better just like that. I wished i could say we became super friends after this. I mean we had a MOMENT. But it didn't happen. I haven't spoken to her of anything significance beside pleasantries since. But that moment of kindness. That split second. I was forever grateful she was there.
4. 3 people stopped their car to jumpstart my dead car in the middle of morning rush hour traffic at 3 different times. Enough said. God i wished i remembered their faces and names... It also worth noting that 7 ppl i successfully flagged refused to help (why did you stop in the first place? did you think i was offering free cable waving them like that?)
5. The people who chased my car and honk like crazy just to tell my stupid ass that my car lights are not turned on at 11pm.
6. A woman automatically walked beside me in the rain because i didn't have an umbrella (LIKE WHO DOES THIS?)
7. That guy who helped push my trolley of boxes in court when I struggled balancing handful of documents while pushing the load.
8. A woman in Court tending to the bar council room allowed me credit for internet and printing because my purse was empty and i couldn't draw money at that time. Choosing instead to hold on to my promise that i'll come back later to pay her. When I asked if i could pay her later, I honestly thought she would politely say no. If I was in her shoes I would say no. The bill was not mere change. It was RM25 if i remembered correctly. She didn't even ask my name! Now some may say that it was in Court, I was obviously a lawyer and she probably remembered me in Court. Even considering all this, I was grateful. More so when you consider this is the place where cynicism is not only practiced but a way of life. (some lawyers would disagree. But really? You think not??)
9. In my university days, a random student came up to ask if I needed company back to my college room. I was alone coming out of the library at night on a semester break. Her concern was actually sound. I could see that her friends were not keen because our colleges were a distance from each other but she ignored them anyway.
(Ultimately my destination was not back to the dorm so I declined her offer. The friendly girl and her unfriendly minions left. On a further note, i do get very suspicious of people. So even if I had wanted to go back to the room, taking safety precautions i don't think I would have joined them. But I believed she was sincere so it counts as an act of kindness)
10. A cabbie refused fare when he took me back home in the pouring rain when I was 13.
And there's many more. That friendly smile that passed between strangers. The hello as you shared a table in a packed restaurant. The greetings of strangers just passing you through life. Life is minutely difficult. We face different crisis personally and professionally. So I am grateful for that little light in between this fast paced race where people are just kind to each other for no reason whatsoever.
1. I ALWAYS find myself with empty battery. At the worst possible times too so I would leave people wondering my fate or whether I am hurt somewhere that I am unable to be reached. This perceived paranoia is really because I myself am one. So you KNOW something is wrong (or stupid) that is causing me to be incommunicado. (I HAVE A FUNNY STORY FOR THIS. TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST)
Sometimes when you're expected somewhere but you're running late but your phone died on you. What could you do. Sometimes I realized the battery is low so I would inform people that the phone will probably die soon. But if it suddenly died on me! The horror
HAHAHA. Then I get up the courage to ask random kindly looking people for their phone enabling me to get in touch with me loved ones. And tell them basically. "I'm not dead." And people are so accommodating. Like here's my phone trusted stranger?
2. This is short but oh so important. You know in LRT and buses? In those uni days when oil price is none of my concern and bus fares are CHEAP. Like people just give up their seats naturally. And sometimes man just give seats to me for being a woman. Like chivalry is not dead ladies. I get it. It's common sense. The pregnant woman and old people needs more rest than you selfish bastards. But that's my point. Selfish bastards are just in abundance. But then not everyone are selfish bastards.. And i live for this moment when humanity is just natural...
3. When I was 15. I came to school in the morning feeling horrible. I'm certain now that it must have been just a simple teenage drama not even worth a memory 10 years later. But I go to school fairly early. I will be the fifth person in (not even kidding). And always I would sit with this girl waiting for our mutual friends to come. She was sort of a friend. We hang with the same friends but never really clicked. We were friendly strangers.
But on this particular morning. I came in hiding my sadness as best as I could (truth: i really didn't put much effort. I wear my heart on my sleeve). And this friendly stranger saw and asked this simple question. "Hey are you ok?". And the waterworks came out. She sat there just waited until I finished. And i said yes. And that was enough. I felt better just like that. I wished i could say we became super friends after this. I mean we had a MOMENT. But it didn't happen. I haven't spoken to her of anything significance beside pleasantries since. But that moment of kindness. That split second. I was forever grateful she was there.
4. 3 people stopped their car to jumpstart my dead car in the middle of morning rush hour traffic at 3 different times. Enough said. God i wished i remembered their faces and names... It also worth noting that 7 ppl i successfully flagged refused to help (why did you stop in the first place? did you think i was offering free cable waving them like that?)
5. The people who chased my car and honk like crazy just to tell my stupid ass that my car lights are not turned on at 11pm.
6. A woman automatically walked beside me in the rain because i didn't have an umbrella (LIKE WHO DOES THIS?)
7. That guy who helped push my trolley of boxes in court when I struggled balancing handful of documents while pushing the load.
8. A woman in Court tending to the bar council room allowed me credit for internet and printing because my purse was empty and i couldn't draw money at that time. Choosing instead to hold on to my promise that i'll come back later to pay her. When I asked if i could pay her later, I honestly thought she would politely say no. If I was in her shoes I would say no. The bill was not mere change. It was RM25 if i remembered correctly. She didn't even ask my name! Now some may say that it was in Court, I was obviously a lawyer and she probably remembered me in Court. Even considering all this, I was grateful. More so when you consider this is the place where cynicism is not only practiced but a way of life. (some lawyers would disagree. But really? You think not??)
9. In my university days, a random student came up to ask if I needed company back to my college room. I was alone coming out of the library at night on a semester break. Her concern was actually sound. I could see that her friends were not keen because our colleges were a distance from each other but she ignored them anyway.
(Ultimately my destination was not back to the dorm so I declined her offer. The friendly girl and her unfriendly minions left. On a further note, i do get very suspicious of people. So even if I had wanted to go back to the room, taking safety precautions i don't think I would have joined them. But I believed she was sincere so it counts as an act of kindness)
10. A cabbie refused fare when he took me back home in the pouring rain when I was 13.
And there's many more. That friendly smile that passed between strangers. The hello as you shared a table in a packed restaurant. The greetings of strangers just passing you through life. Life is minutely difficult. We face different crisis personally and professionally. So I am grateful for that little light in between this fast paced race where people are just kind to each other for no reason whatsoever.
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