I thought Friday the Thirteenth was long over. Maybe I should start to follow my horoscope's predictions more dutifully in future. What had started as a good day soon turned into a series of embarrassing and upset moments.
After my yoga class as I was on my way from the CC to the MRT station, I was stepped very firmly by an uncle dashing through the rather narrow sheltered area. A rushing uncle viciously stepped onto my flip-flop as I was moving forward. His strong step which pulled down my flip-flop and my strength pulling the flip-flop forward in an opposite direction caused my beloved flip-flop to give way. Boo-hoo-hoo.
The uncle had just turned around for a quick look and muttered a rapid sorry and soon disappeared among the crowd before I had time to react. I could not even demand compensation for another pair of shoes from him. He did not even slow down and check if I had been injured. Hey, where has all the considerate and sympathetic people gone to?
The area was not narrow if it was not crowded. It was at the bottleneck stretch with people waiting for taxis, the zoo van trying to lure tourists to the zoo and people staring the notice boards for tutors or rooms for rent. In addition to the 'stationary roadblocks', the remaining space was to cater for 2-way traffic to and fro the train station.
It was not an expensive pair (I could never afford or bring myself to invest more than $20 on flip-flops, eg Havanas). However, I had it for about 2 years and bought at about $2 a pair form Bangkok. Despite its low price and rather nondescript appearance, it was comfortable.
After the strap broke, I had to limp all the way to AMK Hub to buy a replacement pair of shoes in order to get home.
A bad scare and a broken shoes - you would have thought this was bad enough. The worst has yet to come.
Armed with a new pair of shoes, my optimism and cheerfulness soon resumed, so I decided that it was time to explore Sembawang Shopping centre despite carrying some groceries and yoga mat. As I boarded the crowded bus and in a rush to sit down before the bus started driving, I made a turn towards the seat and my yoga mat swinged towards an auntie. A loud 'ouch' followed. Being sincerely apologetic, I quickly apologised profusely and repeatedly to the lady for I could imagine the impact of the swing. A black face and shouting about my carelessness were certainly expected. However, I thought her physical hurt could be somewhat assuaged by my truly sincere and many apologies.
Never had I expected the tirade that followed and which continued throughout the fifteen minutes' journey. She made a big hoo-ha of the impact. She complained at the top of her lungs that he mouth hurt severely and scolded me for my stupidity. Everyone turned around to look. I was again apologising repeatedly. Yet, her anger was not appeased. She continued entertaining the passengers to profanities and insults to me. I was embarrassed, but I was also started to feel upset.
Ok, I could not deny that I was clumsy which though I was fully aware of, I could not overcome easily. Moreover, I was truly apologetic. I never meant it to be. It was not as if I disregard the resulting injury from my clumsiness. Yet, she did not have to reduce me to non-human through her scolding. The muttering even continued when she alighted the bus at the destination.
No wonder many Singaporeans were grieving for the demise of courtesy and consideration in Singapore. Their concerns were not unfounded. With the 2 incidents, much as I could blame them on my unlucky stars and laughed about my own clumsiness, I could not help feeling that the gracious and considerate Singapore society had become a thing of the past.
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