Last night, Jay and I went to buy dinner at the hawker center near the Clementi MRT station. It was past 6pm, the sun was an hour away from setting down. It was one bus stop away... and although it was a short ride and Jay practically walks it every morning as part of his jogging route, I can't so we took the 285 to and from.
We treated ourselves to most things we liked from that place, first of which was red milk tea with pearls, of course. From the same counter, we bought Jay's favorite... octopus balls. Then we went to buy fried rice, pork satay (I still can't eat anything chicken save KFC), and dumplings. Having completed our purchases, we went to the bus stop which was right in front of the dumpling counter, and took the bus ride home.
In the bus, I peeped in our bag of food and saw 2 sticks, similar to the ones used for the satay minus the meat. I charged Jay, playfully of course..."A-ha! You've had a go at the satay!"... only to realize that they were the sticks provided to eat the octopus balls with. I laughed at myself for being silly... Jay snorted but he was smiling. It was a nice moment for a laugh.
During the ride, I noticed a man sitting across us at the left side of the bus. He had 3 bags of groceries and at the moment I was watching him, he was fishing for something from one of the bags. It was the receipt and he read it from top to bottom. Done reading it, he brought out a couple of items, turned them over in his hand, inspecting them. I then tried to imagine what his life was like. I do that often... watch people and try to figure out if they've got easy, laid-back lives, or if it's a hurry-up one for them, and if they're happy either way.
He's obviously married with children, 40-ish I guess (if he was 30-ish, then I definitely look good for my age). He was wearing a short-sleeved, button-down shirt in plaids of olive, indigo and a dull green over a pair of black trousers... conservative and proper, like a father would be. His clothes looked pretty well-kept so I guess his wife is taking good care of him. Aside from the grocery bags, he was carrying something which looked like a laptop case but which seemed too light to have a laptop in it. If he was around 40, and married, then he would have his own flat, probably having been paying for it for about 10 years now and will do so for another 15. I heard that a Singaporean couple would have 2 children on the average, and if he had these, then they must be going to school now. A very ordinary scenario, maybe even expectedly so.
And yet there was something pathetic that struck me about the way he was inspecting the receipt for his groceries. I don't know... something about the average man, working through all of his productive years and still has to watch whatever he picks up out of a store, or the market, the grocery. One of the items he inspected was a pack of strawberries. Did he have a can of whipped cream to go with it? Did he buy it because somebody at home really likes it or did he pick it up on impulse? Will he feel some quiet satisfaction as he hands it over to that strawberry-loving so and so or is he worrying now that it was a needless expense? Will he be smiling when he reaches home at the thought of enjoying the strawberries, or will he be grumpy because he spent too much? Do I need more stuff to occupy my mind with?
I heard Jay snort again. When I looked at him, he was still smiling... I suppose from the octopus ball sticks incident.
The following morning, I was seeing Jay to the door on his way to work. He reached for his bag, a laptop case without the laptop in it. He didn't know that one of the flaps was unzipped so it flipped out as he picked the bag up.. like in a slapstick comedy, only this was not scripted and that made it funny. Well, I did think it funny so I laughed again... and Jay smiled again. A nice way to start a day. As I closed the door, I made a mental note to buy coffee cause we've run out... but I really should remember to laugh more often.
We treated ourselves to most things we liked from that place, first of which was red milk tea with pearls, of course. From the same counter, we bought Jay's favorite... octopus balls. Then we went to buy fried rice, pork satay (I still can't eat anything chicken save KFC), and dumplings. Having completed our purchases, we went to the bus stop which was right in front of the dumpling counter, and took the bus ride home.
In the bus, I peeped in our bag of food and saw 2 sticks, similar to the ones used for the satay minus the meat. I charged Jay, playfully of course..."A-ha! You've had a go at the satay!"... only to realize that they were the sticks provided to eat the octopus balls with. I laughed at myself for being silly... Jay snorted but he was smiling. It was a nice moment for a laugh.
During the ride, I noticed a man sitting across us at the left side of the bus. He had 3 bags of groceries and at the moment I was watching him, he was fishing for something from one of the bags. It was the receipt and he read it from top to bottom. Done reading it, he brought out a couple of items, turned them over in his hand, inspecting them. I then tried to imagine what his life was like. I do that often... watch people and try to figure out if they've got easy, laid-back lives, or if it's a hurry-up one for them, and if they're happy either way.
He's obviously married with children, 40-ish I guess (if he was 30-ish, then I definitely look good for my age). He was wearing a short-sleeved, button-down shirt in plaids of olive, indigo and a dull green over a pair of black trousers... conservative and proper, like a father would be. His clothes looked pretty well-kept so I guess his wife is taking good care of him. Aside from the grocery bags, he was carrying something which looked like a laptop case but which seemed too light to have a laptop in it. If he was around 40, and married, then he would have his own flat, probably having been paying for it for about 10 years now and will do so for another 15. I heard that a Singaporean couple would have 2 children on the average, and if he had these, then they must be going to school now. A very ordinary scenario, maybe even expectedly so.
And yet there was something pathetic that struck me about the way he was inspecting the receipt for his groceries. I don't know... something about the average man, working through all of his productive years and still has to watch whatever he picks up out of a store, or the market, the grocery. One of the items he inspected was a pack of strawberries. Did he have a can of whipped cream to go with it? Did he buy it because somebody at home really likes it or did he pick it up on impulse? Will he feel some quiet satisfaction as he hands it over to that strawberry-loving so and so or is he worrying now that it was a needless expense? Will he be smiling when he reaches home at the thought of enjoying the strawberries, or will he be grumpy because he spent too much? Do I need more stuff to occupy my mind with?
I heard Jay snort again. When I looked at him, he was still smiling... I suppose from the octopus ball sticks incident.
The following morning, I was seeing Jay to the door on his way to work. He reached for his bag, a laptop case without the laptop in it. He didn't know that one of the flaps was unzipped so it flipped out as he picked the bag up.. like in a slapstick comedy, only this was not scripted and that made it funny. Well, I did think it funny so I laughed again... and Jay smiled again. A nice way to start a day. As I closed the door, I made a mental note to buy coffee cause we've run out... but I really should remember to laugh more often.
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