Possibly a little too emotional. The world, after all, is a lonely one.
Okie, this is going to make me sound like a right basket case but what the heck,
I was coming home after going out with Cheryl on Saturday (Oh yeah, have to write a thank you letter to Mr. Ricky Sim for his invite to the Suntec City Foodcourt Opening. *Plug* The new Suntec Foodcourt has opened! Do go down and take a look! :D:D *End Plug*)
So I was at Jurong Interchange when I saw this elderly man (abt 50) walking with a walking clutch thing... It's not a walking stick, mind you, it's a clutch sort of thing. I don't know how to describe it either... it's got 4 'legs', or something like that. So you see, he was sort of handicapped and you could see that it is really really hard for him to walk. It's more like a struggle. And one can just imagine the pain and struggle everyday, just having to walk with that handicap.
So he was walking behind me after coming out of the EW train changing onto the NS line (ie the red line that goes to Woodlands) then stopped at the same 'carriage stop' as me. And he was just standing there waiting for the train when all of a sudden, he just stumbled and was frailing about. And at that moment when he was so helpless, what do you think happened?
Nothing much really. He straightened back didn't fall in the end. But that wasn't the point I am going to make.
As he was stumbling, nobody stood forward to help him. Some people just stood there and looked at him as he lost he was falling. Some of them didn't even look at him. Some jerks even moved backwards so that he won't touch them! Thinking of the incident again made me want to tear up again. I mean, if you'd been there. You'll have seen this guy pulling his wife out of the way, then throwing a suspicious glance to the poor old man. And that really pissed me off. That really really ticked me off.
Why are people so bad? I really can't think of anything else to describe it. Why are you so cruel? Why are you so unnatural? Isn't the natural reaction to in fact, try and reach out to steady the poor old man? Shouldn't that be what people should be doing? Why, do I see, then, that people are actually withdrawing away from him? Why aren't people helping him? What if he fell? What if he fell again and injured himself so badly he might never walk again? What if.
What if, that person was someone you love and cherish?
What if he'd been your husband/father/friend/brother?
Would you care?
I am sort of choking up now just thinking of that incident again. The cruelty of the people. The feigned ignorance. The nonchalance. The indifference. Why don't they have even a sense of sympathy. Why it isn't their first reaction to help the old man? Why? I don't understand it. I mean, normally, if you see someone falling down, be it a stranger, you would still help them right? I mean, discounting the fact that the person in question is handicapped. Would you help?
Sigh. People are bad. I hope I don't end up like them.
And all the bus ride home, I was biting my lips and trying like mad not to cry. And once I entered the house, Mum came forward and asked me how was my test that day (Managerial Accounting. *Update -- I got an A. Yay!) and I promptly burst into tears. Daddy was damn shocked. Later I recounted the whole thing to Mum. She says I did the best I could. In case I didn't say already, I reached out to help the old man, but he was a little out of my reach. I was walking forward to help him, when he steadied himself.
I don't know. Thinking of that old man later sitting in the train, with peering over his glasses and adjusting his watch the people around him shifted about, and paid no attention to him, it just breaks my heart.
The world, after all, is a lonely one.
I was coming home after going out with Cheryl on Saturday (Oh yeah, have to write a thank you letter to Mr. Ricky Sim for his invite to the Suntec City Foodcourt Opening. *Plug* The new Suntec Foodcourt has opened! Do go down and take a look! :D:D *End Plug*)
So I was at Jurong Interchange when I saw this elderly man (abt 50) walking with a walking clutch thing... It's not a walking stick, mind you, it's a clutch sort of thing. I don't know how to describe it either... it's got 4 'legs', or something like that. So you see, he was sort of handicapped and you could see that it is really really hard for him to walk. It's more like a struggle. And one can just imagine the pain and struggle everyday, just having to walk with that handicap.
So he was walking behind me after coming out of the EW train changing onto the NS line (ie the red line that goes to Woodlands) then stopped at the same 'carriage stop' as me. And he was just standing there waiting for the train when all of a sudden, he just stumbled and was frailing about. And at that moment when he was so helpless, what do you think happened?
Nothing much really. He straightened back didn't fall in the end. But that wasn't the point I am going to make.
As he was stumbling, nobody stood forward to help him. Some people just stood there and looked at him as he lost he was falling. Some of them didn't even look at him. Some jerks even moved backwards so that he won't touch them! Thinking of the incident again made me want to tear up again. I mean, if you'd been there. You'll have seen this guy pulling his wife out of the way, then throwing a suspicious glance to the poor old man. And that really pissed me off. That really really ticked me off.
Why are people so bad? I really can't think of anything else to describe it. Why are you so cruel? Why are you so unnatural? Isn't the natural reaction to in fact, try and reach out to steady the poor old man? Shouldn't that be what people should be doing? Why, do I see, then, that people are actually withdrawing away from him? Why aren't people helping him? What if he fell? What if he fell again and injured himself so badly he might never walk again? What if.
What if, that person was someone you love and cherish?
What if he'd been your husband/father/friend/brother?
Would you care?
I am sort of choking up now just thinking of that incident again. The cruelty of the people. The feigned ignorance. The nonchalance. The indifference. Why don't they have even a sense of sympathy. Why it isn't their first reaction to help the old man? Why? I don't understand it. I mean, normally, if you see someone falling down, be it a stranger, you would still help them right? I mean, discounting the fact that the person in question is handicapped. Would you help?
Sigh. People are bad. I hope I don't end up like them.
And all the bus ride home, I was biting my lips and trying like mad not to cry. And once I entered the house, Mum came forward and asked me how was my test that day (Managerial Accounting. *Update -- I got an A. Yay!) and I promptly burst into tears. Daddy was damn shocked. Later I recounted the whole thing to Mum. She says I did the best I could. In case I didn't say already, I reached out to help the old man, but he was a little out of my reach. I was walking forward to help him, when he steadied himself.
I don't know. Thinking of that old man later sitting in the train, with peering over his glasses and adjusting his watch the people around him shifted about, and paid no attention to him, it just breaks my heart.
The world, after all, is a lonely one.
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