28th June 2006

Today i brought my student to the library.

On my bus journey to Jurong point,
i was surrounded by secondary school students, JJC students.
Makes me feel so old.

Throughout the journey i keep glancing at them and mentally calculating how much older i am than them.

At the interchange as i was getting down,
i glanced at a seat and saw this wallet that a JJC guy had dropped next to him.

I looked at him
"Your Wallet issit?"

I guess this confirm everyone's doubt.
I bought my A1 for english.

On my way home,
I was waiting for 157 to come and in front of me was an old lady

As she board the bus, she tripped and fell on the stairs.
I was stunned i guess
and i stood and look for a moment before helping her up
"aiyo ah ma"

aiyo ah ma??!
what happened to my english today?

when i helped her up by supporting her arms
i was surprised by the touch.
Layers and layers of wrinkled skin, soft to the touch.
immediately i felt a pang in my heart.

she keep thanking me in english
on instinct i sat behind her on the bus.

the bus wasn't crowded.
the whole journey i was thinking if i should ask her if she was ok,
and i keep conjuring scenerios of where she will get off, should i help her get down etc.

"ding dong"
she pressed the bell.

I hestitated for a moment and asked if she wanted me to help her carry her heavy bag down.
she refused weakly and then thanked me again.

so i got off at her stop.
she thought i was just going to carry it off for her only
so she was surprised that i got off the bus also.

i asked if she lived nearby
and she said she was going to St joseph home
she just had an operation on her legs thats why she tripped on the bus

the bag she was carrying took me by surprise
it was heavy for me.
not to say an old lady like her

where is her children?
Where is her grandchildren?
Any relatives?
thoughts just ran across my mind.

I took the bag for her all the way into the home,
and it was a sad place to say the least
the looks that i got was a mixture of surprise and probably sadness.
i looked out of place there
probably the people there don get any vistors either.

i kept asking myself.
why din i do any volunteer work?
or contribute to the society?
so i only care about myself?

What about in the future?
if i fall down,
will anybody help me up?
least carry my stuff to my destination?