These days I sort of "realised" that at times I can be a pain in the a** with my grouses and endless bitching. And I think to a certain extent I'm making life difficult for myself too. Ok, so I, once again, "decided" that I will make things better for myself. And in making things better for myself, I shall become happy too. Yeah.
Well I was taking the MRT that morning on the way to work and as usual, the peak hour rush means the train was crowded beyond words. Sort of like back-to-back canned sardines. Now, with civic-minded Singaporeans, it was a foregone conclusion that pregnant ladies or old men and ladies would be comfortably seated...safely seated at least. Or so I thought.
Seated on both rows are students, working professionals, strong young men, immaculately made-up women. And look who's standing? A pregnant woman! Don't bother trying to defend them...it wasn't hard recognising a pregnant woman in your midst. I know how sometimes you would be in a dilemma whether to give up your seat to someone who looks suspiciously pregnant, in fear of offending the lady in case it was a case of false alarm. Granted. But c'mon! This woman here is 1) spotting a visible big tummy 2)in a maternity dress! -.- And nobody bothered giving up their seat. NONE AT ALL. They simply averted their eyes elsewhere. What kind of twisted world is this?
Now, we would have taken it for granted that whoever was seated at the first seat (supposedly the seat for handicapped/needy) should give up his/her seat (a her in this case) to this pregnant lady. But this &^%$#@ woman was yakking away on her mobile, seemingly oblivious to this pregnant lady standing diagonally from where she was sitting. The man sitting in front of where she was standing was dozing. The rest were reading their books/newspapers/staring into space. You know, I wouldn't blame the dozing man as much as the rest. After all, he had been dozing before the pregnant lady boarded the train. I mean, I wouldn't expect him to know and immediately woke up yah? But what about the rest?! Selfish bunch of idiots.
The best part? Ok, I was standing at the other end, and this lady sitting down in front of where I was standing, got up to alight. And this woman standing next to me had the audacity to try and slink into the seat. Certainly I wouldn't let her do that! I immediately signalled to the pregnant lady to come take the seat. She gave me a smile, which I was glad for. I mean, not that I expected a reward or something. Coz being the human that I am, the last thing I wanted happen to me is to have someone who doesn't appreciate the gesture. Believe me, it happened to me before. This old lady treated me as if I was invisible after I gave my seat up to her. But that's not the point, and that's another story altogether. Anyways, remember I was saying the woman standing next to me initially wanted to "snatch" the empty seat? Guess what? She glared at me after I gave the seat to the pregnant woman!! omg...
At one point, I wanted so much to walk over to the pregnant woman and ask those seated there to give their seat up to her. Some would think I'm being a busybody, which I guess that would be how I am if I really did that. And believe me, I'm very thin-skinned. But know what? I regretted not doing that initially. I was having a sort of "internal struggle" whether to do it or not. It wasn't the first time that I had encountered a situation like this. One other time it happened to my second sister. We were going out shopping and took the train. Once again, no one gave up their seat to her. Mind you, my sister at that point was heavily pregnant. I was furious that no one deemed fit to give their seat up to a pregnant woman in a crowded train. I spoke up, but I did it the wrong way. I commented rather loudly and rudely that everyone is so cold-hearted as to ignore a pregnant woman, standing in the midst of a bumpy train ride. A young man did stand up eventually. I didn't regret speaking up, but in retrospective, I shouldn't have used that manner of speech. I should have been civic and polite. I think it would make everyone less defensive about giving up their seats. And lower the chances of me being lashed out at :)
I just don't understand, why do Singaporeans treat people who stand up to simple unjusts like these, or people who speak up as aliens? Give them alternative looks? I offered my seat to a half-blind man on my way home on the train last nite. He declined because he was alighting. And when I looked ahead again, I saw the whole carriage looking at me. Some are harmless, I know. But there are some who shot that "you-weirdo, you-kpo" look at me. What the?! I don't expect any standing ovations, but don't treat me any lesser than you are!
But after this time, I told myself that the next time this happen, I would do it. I would ask the people around politely if they can give their seats up to the needy one. F it if people scold me for being busybody or glare me down to hell.
I'm not trying to prove anything, and world wouldn't change just because of what I did. But it just simply irks me to no end when I see something unjust like this. Perhaps to those out there who read this, please do the same. Then maybe the world would become a wee bit better. But better than none rite?
I certainly did feel good and happy and warm after I've done a good deed each time. Never fails to lift my spirits. I guess that's a form of true happiness.
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