Sunday, October 30, 2005
Posted by maei at 3:53 PM
disgustedi just came back from northpoint, to buy some stationery. on the way back, i came across two very very disgusting people that just ruined my day.
one was the bus driver. the other was some old lady. please do not tell me that i should respect her just because she is a senior. she is totally unworthy of any courtesy from me. and if her family were anything like her. i condemn them. and the bus-driver's family too.
what happened was that this beggar-woman with long greasy hair tied up in a pony tail, dressed in a dirty white t-shirt and pink bermudas wanted to board the bus. but she had no money. then the bus-driver raised his voice at her in chinese "you are very smelly. get off my bus. don't make my bus smelly."
so of course the woman pleaded with him and said also in chinese "uncle, let me take the bus ba... please please." but she had no money...
the driver replied harshly, "no money cannot take bus. get off my bus. take the next one. or go and askt he office see if you can take a bus without paying."
then i offered to pay for the woman, coz she was holding the bus up, then i asked the uncle, "how much is her fare?" twice. but the uncle ignored me. THEN the old lady sitting nearby spoke up, "girl, no need to pay for her. you pay for her once, she'll keep wanting to take free rides."
the uncle spoke again, "no money, cannot take bus."
the beggar-woman finally said, "okay, i'll pay, but i have no money." and turning to the old lady, she asked if she could have 90 cents to take the bus.
the auntie said, "no. i have no change."
so i offered stood up again and wanted to go up and pay for her anyway, but the uncle just shouted at the beggar-woman again and said, "you are very smelly. get off my bus. get off get off. go and ask the office whether no money can take bus or not. get off get off."
and the woman was driven off, before i could get down to paying for her.
then after the bus drove off (and the woman was looking resolutely at the bus driver from the curb the whole time) the old auntie said, " aiyah, this kind of person no need pay for her. no need to be kind. if it were a senior citizen, ah, then of course is a different case." on that, i turned and stared at the woman. like, what the hell??! but of course, her back was facing me, so i was just pissed... "she is still so young," the auntie continued, "not like some old person or something."
the bus driver said, "no, giving her a free ride is not the matter. the thing is, she's got some mental problem. she is very smelly, like shit on herself never bather. very smelly very smelly. yesterday, i gave her a ride, but she stank up the back of my bus. i'm very scared later no one want to take my bus. she is so smelly."
the auntie just said, "yeah lor, what's more, she's so young, not like, she's some old person." then soon, she alighted.
when it was my turn to alight, i wanted to tell the uncle, "it's not that she isn't paying for her ride, i offered. but you drove her off anyway. can't you see she's so poor? or maybe she's just mentally disabled, but do you think it'll be easier for her to get a wash or to get your bus a wash? the bus isn't even yours. the company cleans it every night whether or not it stinks."
but the words died at my mouth. so i just glared at the uncle and strode off the bus. i don't even know if the uncle saw me, coz he was wearing this pair of reflective sunglasses the whole time.
and why the words died at my mouth was because i realised that i had no right to say anything to the uncle, because i hesitated when i offerd to pay for the beggar-woman. if i had gone up and paid anyway, that would have shut the both of them up, without having to say a thing. it would be extemely hypocritical of me to say anything.
but i didn't.
so i can only fume inside, and feel lousy about myself.
but the moral of the story is, not all elders deserve respect. there are so many people out there who think that just because they're older, and they've seen more of the world than we have, that they can view others as inferiors. that others are not deserving of aid. that ony the OLD PEOPLE deserve such special attention. i'm sorry, if you've been viewing the world like its yours through that tiny narrow hole that is your well, then i can only pity you and think that you do not deserve my respect at all, for you have nothing worth my attention in the first place. and if you do catch my attention, it would be disgust and spite.
the selfishness of it all. was she really so naive to think that if it had been a smelly old beggar-woman instead, the uncle would have let her board?
and if the free-loader had been better-dressed, if she had asked, i bet the uncle would've let her board without minding that she was not paying OR that she stank like hell.
and the thing was, that woman didn't even stink. i was in close proximity to her, but i couldn't smell a thing. it's true. and to think the uncle could shout in her face, "you are very smelly." even if she was, that was such an ugly and uncivilised thing to say. he might as well as have cursed her, and it would still sound better.
it is because of such ungracious people that singapore is deemed as an ungracious society by many. it's the ugly side of humanity that plague the cities and the apathy of the rest of the people that let the ungraciousness spread unhindered.
i am not spared from being a part of the apathetic crowd. but i feel ashamed of it at times. do you?
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