Hmm.. How time flies..In less than 1 mth's time, my years on planet Earth will add up to a quarter of century..Oh mine, my biological clock's ticking away fast..Anyway, just a thought tat came to my mind as i saw the calendar right in front of me now..My main aim of bloggin 2day is to write abt sth more meaningful..an extraordinary encounter I had on mon which stirred up my awareness and promoted me to ponder much after that.. I shall update on my Quidam xperience & NTU run round SG 168 relay run next time ah.Hehe..pls dun be mistaken.I only ran for the relay station ones. max.3.5km. So i shall cut the crap now & begin..

Everyday's a new learning experience and indeed, i must agree with tis cliche now..esp after my self-realisation triggered by tis short yet awakening encounter on mon with tis middle-aged
SAVH visually-handicapped(vp) chap (FYI, blind isn't a gd choice of word as according to what i've learnt b4 in a volunteerism workshop bk @ TP CSC, cos 1stly, it doesnt sound gd & nowadays, Blind is usually used to describe someone either born blind, or to have lost vision of seeing completely which are the minority in SAVH) @ toa payoh bus stop opp the interchange on mon.

As usual for my typical mondays, I had just gotten a ride from my NIE coursemate, Grace from campus to Toa Payoh since she need 2 go Toa Payoh to fetch her son home from sch. I suppose goin to Toa Payoh to take Bus no 153, a straight bus home will certainly be faster and less squeezing with the peak hour crowd than my usual bus-mrt-bus ride from Boon Lay, so this explained my decision. This definitely saved much of my precious time & $ too..hehe..since i just takin one bus ride onlyas compared to 2bus-1mrt transfer ride.

So as I was walking towards my bus stop after getting out of underpass, I could see that my bus 153 approaching the bus stop with another bus rite behind as the lights turned green @ the cross-junction ahead. Of course, being someone who hate to wait 4 bus, I quickened my pace so as to board tis air-con double-decker bus( not tat packed, wat a rare sight at such hour, so must not miss it man!). I should be able to make it, judging from the crowd of passengers gathering near the side of bus-stop whom i suppose taking the same bus as me ah..

Hence, i slowed down and started walking briskly the remaining 5-10m to the stop. It was during my slowing down that I noticed this other plump, middle-aged man (his back facing me) with a white cane/stick? in his hand. I took a 2nd look and realised that he must be visual-handicapped as that was the typical white walking cane/stick used 4 guiding while moving around. He seemed to be standing alone by the corner of the bus stop without anyone nearby helping him. To be exact, I observed that he looked lost and needed help as I walked past him when I reached the stop. So immediately I turned around and asked him politely for the bus no that he had been waiting. " Hi, Sir.. Which bus are u getting? Wat's the no?"
" Bus 105" came his reply.. Oh..different bus as mine..

Sharks!.. At tis very moment, my bus had stopped by the side and passengers were boarding it fast. Wat to do.. To help or not to help? I hestitated for a split second. Then the selfish side of me conquered my mind and I decided to board my bus after all.. My bad habit into action again..Always like to assume.. 1)I assume that Sporeans are a kind lot of pple who will help ah and 2)I suppose the bus rite behind Bus 153 was not 105..
However, dun noe why, I was overwhelmed with a pang of guilt of not staying behind to help the man as I climbed up to the upper deck of bus. To make it worse, I realised that the bus rite behind turn out to be Bus 105 indeed. Had I been more helpful by walking over to check out the bus behind rather than assuming, the man would have been on that bus by now.

The more i think about it, the more guilty I become as I ought to stay and help him and not just walk away. To tink that I can make a pt to go for YEP Yunnan to help the underprivileged children in June and even to go to All Saints' Home to bring joy and warmth into the lives of the old folks every fortnight, how come I can't even stay just 4 a few mins to help a blind man? At this moment, I realised tat I just got to turn bk 2 help. Luckily, my bus only reached the next stop, just abt 100m away from the previous stop. Thus, I immediately pressed the button & got off the bus 2 walk back to the earlier stop to see if that SAVH chap was still around, waiting for help. My 1st assumptn turned out 2 be wrong too cos he was still at the corner, but sitted down tis time while the other passengers seemsed oblivious to his existence. oh my god, wat's our society coming to.. Imagine all the talk about becoming a gracious society.. wAt a crap!

Anyway, I walked over to stand near the SAVH chap to wait for his bus, 105 to come. Oh yah..pls dun be mistaken tat this chap must be a gd-looking one ah.. if not why I can b so dumb 2 get off my bus & run back to the earlier stop just to help.. If this was the thought that came across ur mind as u r reading this, i am so sad 2 say tat u dun noe me tat well after all..my frenzs.. Cos I'm a helpful person to everyone wat..hehe..dun start puking ah..

Back to the recount, the wait was short and soon i could see bus 105 approachin the bus stop. As I was about to go over to inform him about his bus coming and help him to board the bus, I saw this lady sitting near to him telling that bus 105 was coming. At the same time, she guided him to the bus and assisted him in getting up the bus. I thought that she would be taking the same bus after all but to my surprise, she was not! Instead, she walked back to the busstop area, towards the block of flat behind it. Hmm..so all hope is not lost yet 4 SG! There are after all still some Kind souls like her and me!

So why am I sharing tis encounter? I suppose it's bcos tis is the trigger point that made me realise how wrong it is to always make assumptions about things. Indeed a bad habit to kick off..I finally see the light!
A day of Self-realisation :)