oops i stained my burberry

the girl sitting across from me at toast box has spent most of the past hour worrying about and fussing over the stain she made on her burberry bag. the dye from her pants got on the bag - which is quite a normal phenomenon.

SAD.

haha. if i were her i'd be upset too i guueess. but for now i'll just stick to carrying whatever bag that makes life easier. like my no-name backpack :)


helping out in the kopitiam has given me a greater appreciation of a few things.
1) mum & dad. who work so hard and provide for these two ungrateful brats at home.
2) mum. for being so cool about me doing many things that some other parents would be uptight about. like spending so much time out.
3) dong. for encouraging me to spend more time with fameelee at the expense of time with him. because family is important.
4) dong for being understanding, sensitive, reasonable and humble, and for teaching me to be understanding, sensitive, reasonable and humble.
5) the people who serve me in kopitiams/coffeeshops/foodcourts. such skill, diligence, energy, humility and efficiency to dish out item after item, to make cup after cup for impatient and unappreciative Singaporean customers who are so frickin spoilt by speedy machines they forget how to distinguish machine from human being. im guilty.
6) chinese from china. not all. some of them sacrifice a lot to come to singapore in attempt to carve out a better life for their families back in China. and here they are looked down on by Singaporeans who think they're so much more civilized and cultured. im guilty as well.

the environment in the coffeeshop stall has been challenging because you've really got to hit the ground running. and for someone like me who sucks at mental sums, working without a POS has been both humiliating and humbling. i get laughed at by demeaing men with swelling egos. but those problems are external. something happens, you consciously decide how to react. the more subtle one has been internal. the aunties have their share of things to grumble about from the many difficult things they have to swallow and bear. while empathizing with them as they tell their stories daily has taught me to appreciate things like those i mentioned above, i also came to the sudden realization that I also began to hold on to upsetting moments to gather my own collection of grumble stories.

i've been blessed though. despite being made to feel small and lousy at times, i think there have been listening points that will equip me for the years to come. even the generousity of lao ban niang has made me feel like i'm worth more than many sparrows.