3 short stories

While at the gambling table that day, one Thai worker tong bang on my bet while i was at the black jack table. he also tong-banged the female player next to me. we were both a little annoyed by him because he kept nudgging us at the arm and shoulder whenever we had a good card in hand. i dont like people to nudge at me, sometimes i chide mark for doing that while watching TV or movie. it is like "hey hey, pay attention" kind of nudge or "look here" kind of nudge, which gets me irritated. so anyway, that Thai worker was doing that. with his bet of $30, we were limited to bet our share of $50 as the banker had a cap to each bet. we were unable to bet more that we wanted since he kept tagging along. we were trying to keep our patience when i heard him say in broken hokkien "wa bo lai, li bo heng ah!" meaning "if not for me being here, you won't be as lucky". that got me laughing. here we are, full of ourselves, thinking that we are the ones allowing him to tag on us, while he thinks that we are winning because he is lucky. so much so for being snobbish. sometimes, there is more to just our selfish view.

this epsiode reminds me of two other reflections i made of myself. i admit that i am sometimes too full of myself but i do reflect on it and become a better person, hopefully.

once i was at our regular roti prata stall at river valley. i always have a prata with a can of coke. always coke and nothing else. then one day, the staff brought me vanilla coke instead of the classic one. i summoned him to my table and asked him what was it about. i must have looked fierce because he timidly said that vanilla coke is the same and also very nice. i said how could it be the same?! i want just coke. he apologised that they ran out of it, why dont i just try. i hastily said ok, next time please store up your coke, it is staple.

after a sip, i had to bite my tongue.

i liked the vanilla version!

he was right, vanilla was nice.

i was just too stubborn to try new things and kept thinking that my loyalty is such a pride.

boo boo.


the last story i have for you happened a long time ago, when Diamaru was still Diamaru if you know what i mean.

i bought a digital weighing scale from the departmental store which cost $68. it was "hard saved money" as i was broke but had to have a digital scale. obesssed with weight at that time.

so anyway, i couldnt get it to work when i got home. there was no numbers on the display. i checked that the batteries were new but it just wouldnt work. so i lugged the machine back to the store the next evening, angry that the thing was not working. i must have been confrontational then, and the poor sales girl referred me to her senior.

after inspection, the senior girl pulled out a small plastic tab that was stuck to a slot underneath the machine. that tab was a protection sheet for the new equipment which was working fine. i was aghast that i was so stupid. the girl was so kind, she didn't give me a face. if i were her, i might rub it in. but she didn't. to top my shame, she said, "i'm sorry you have to come back here, it must be heavy carrying this". gosh. where do i hide my face?

so you see,,, be kind. we are not always right.

everytime i encounter very cocky and unreasonable customer at work, i always think of that sales girl, and if i am clear minded, i will be just as kind.

gee.