i believe this topic has raised eyebrows before as most reactions will be more of a
'HAAA?' more than a
'YAAA'. am i right or am i right? and sue me lah, as i'm going to write about my own experience with it.
a few days ago,
i was going to board the LRT from the Wangsa Maju station. my mom dropped me off and being in a less than good mood, she rushed off to her destination. i was given RM10 earlier but somehow, it wasn't in my bag or my jeans pocket. or in the black wallet from Vietnam. i only had loose change approximately RM1.70. i literally needed 50 more cents to purchase my ticket.
calling my mom would be like
calling the devil.
being unable to contact anyone
phone rosak at the best time, seriously and being late already, i was only left with one choice;
ask from a stranger.
i mean, come on.. all i needed was fifty bloody cents.
there i stood, stoned cold as heck....
as i stared and gave a mental evaluation to every.single.person that walked in and out of the station.
i don't understand why i couldn't just settle for a random person and ask for the 50c nicely and be done with it. nooooo~ i stood there for almost half an hour.
should i ask the counterguy? should i ask the hotlink person? should i ask that short ol' lady? or that shabby looking youngster?because all of their faces were like this;
*.*takde expression. takde feeling.
takde.
almost like they were in some trance of their own,
rushing to their destinations.
after a while, i could feel that someone was staring at me from afar.
this man... a foreigner, i kid you not, was walking towards my direction from meters berjauhan and he was staring right at me. sumpah i panic like crazy thinking dey what this guy want from me sort of thing.
he walked up closer and closer to me...
he had a very simple grin in his face...
i, still in panic mode...
and he said...
hi.
very sincerely.
very cool.
very casually.
almost harmless, it seemed.
he went to the shop behind me and bought a magazine or something. then he walked back out and slowly stood next to me. he asked whether i was waiting for someone and with the hint of expression on his face, it was obvious that he was also asking why my face looked stoned as heck. he was very tall, looked like a younger, slightly blonder version of Adam Sandler and spoke in an almost Kazakhstan accent.
very ala Tom Hanks in The Terminal.
because all the Malaysians around me didn't even bother to throw a smile on their faces, i guess my only option was to speak to Mr rather-nice Stranger. i let him know of my silly situation of needing just 50 more cents to board the train and he actually paid attention to me while i was speaking, still shaky and laughing at how goofy i was sounding.
oh... okeh okeh... *takes out wallet* here, i give you ( RM1 ) is that ah okeh?
OMG THANK YOUUUH~
your welcome, your welcome... if you want the more, i can give..
oh no no its alright this will do i'm good. you waiting for someone?
yes yes, i am.. :]
well thanks again! thank you!
ah you're welcome, you're welcome *initiates a wave goodbye*
i felt bad for ending the conversation that he striked up. but i was already late like crazy. if i wasn't, i think i would've just stayed and talked. i know mommy said don't talk to strangers, but i couldn't help the fact that he was the only stranger who bothered to ask.
really,
how many Malaysians do you know... be it, youngster, middle aged, old... actually smiles at you or the least, nod as he/she walks passes you by a roadside, or in the very means of your own neighbourhood area? i know only one person who does that and she was the one who inspired me to just have common courtesy, when i'm jogging around my area with the dog or simply walking from my house to another.
now, i find it hard for myself not to nod or flash a little smile when i am walking pass somebody in my neighbourhood area. i also find it hard to believe that the only people who do the same thing when i'm out and about on the streets of KL, are all foreigners. never have i encountered a Malaysian who instead of just staring and looking away, looks at me or anyone and gives a warm-hearted smile.
if showing it is so hard, can you imagine saying it?
the simple thank yous and your welcomes..
would't give you herpes, would it?
here's a good story on how that is very obviously normal in our society.
just a few days ago, i was waiting at the bus stop opposite the Wangsa Maju station
another train station story for my mother to pick me up. i saw with my own eyes, on the direct opposite of the road, a blind man holding his walking stick struggling his way to the station.
an estimation of probably thirty people(?) were walking around him, pass him, behind him… mostly youngsters.. and all of them just stared and buat bodoh!
typical common courtesy to just help to guide the poor ol' man..is that so hard to do? because if i were standing there, i would have helped without a doubt. i’m a youngster myself and it makes me feel ashamed that a lot of us never learnt from the Pendidikan Moral that was taught to us throughout our schooling life. tak pernah tengok picture of young teenager helping pakcik buta cross road ah? what could he do? sumbat his stick up your nose for talking to him?
seriously.
why are we so ignorantly bland and blank?
mulut terlalu berat ke?
well what do you think?
have society lost its sense of common courtesy,
or have we never possessed it anyway?
Circus- Britney Spears