ATMs and What-Nots

So I was in a queue to use a cash deposit machine at a bank lobby. There were 2 machines. 1 was spoilt; the other still working. Needless to say, the crowd was lined up behind the working machine. The spoilt machine accepted passbook updates only.

One non-local Indian holding a stash of money in the middle of the queue (in front of me), looks at the spoilt machine and wonders why nobody is using it.

He leaves the queue to try his luck at the unused machine. He realises that the machine is spoilt, and looks around over his shoulder at the queue he had left just a few minutes earlier.

He walks back to the queue, and rejoins the queue at the position where he left.

Two Malay girls behind him confronted him, and tells him to rejoin the queue from the end of the line.

One Philippine woman notices the commotions. She is right in front of the non-local Indian man.

She turns around and chides the two girls, "No, he was queued up right behind me."

The non-local Indian pretends to not understand any word the girls are saying, and keeps quiet. He stays where he is in the queue, helped by the Philippine woman.

The Malay girls refuse to swallow their pride, and leaves the lobby.

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Right in front of the queue, using the machine was an auntie who looked to be in her 40s. She was listening to her personal audio player with a white pair of earphones.

She was trying to deposit cash, but the machines kept rejecting her notes.

So she kept on trying. For a full 5-7 (?) minutes.

The crowd behind her gets frustrated, and people start asking each other what the woman is doing.

One ah-beng dressed in construction worker boots shouts out for the woman to leave. He says, "Eh auntie, go away and use some other machine. Don't keep using this machine... blah blah blah blah..."

Another guy chips in and tells her to stop trying and give up and let other people use the cash deposit machine.

The ah-beng finishes off with, "...if you keep on trying like that, we all gonna sleep here tonight already..."

The woman took her rejected notes, having tried to re-deposit it for the umpteenth time, and stands in a corner, silent against the angry mob that has formed behind her.

I left after making a passbook update at the spoilt machine, before the commotion turned ugly.

Another Workday... #5

Another workday, another weekend. Cometh thou rest, begone is thy youth.

Whence shalt this race slow down or stop, to let me take a breather?

I am entwined and grasped in a vise, falling from the heavens in a downward spiral.

This is a fucking evil vicious cycle.

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I should be happy - I am not.

I should be contented - I am not.

I should be broken - I am not.

I should be grateful - that I am.

I should be mindful - that I am.

I should be thrifty - that I am.

I should be thoughtful - that I try.

I should be loving - that I try.

I should be careful - that Itry.

I should be resting.

Another Workday... #4

One morning on the way to work, I passed by a rubbish bin.

There was a hamster cage beside the rubbish bin. It was probably discarded by someone, and it still had sawdust and all the accessories inside the cage.

The top of the cage had been taken off and was beside the cage on the floor.

There were 2 cats sitting left and right of the cage. They were licking their lips.

Another Workday... #3

One morning while walking out to catch the bus to work, I passed by an elderly couple sitting by the roadside ("Elderly" in this post is defined to be having a head of white hair already).

The man was standing and shouting at his wife. The man shouted sentences of which snippets I caught were "...I already am doing my best to earn money...", and "...what do you want...".

Although the story behind the argument wasn't clear, it was a pretty dramatic and shocking sight to see such an elderly couple arguing over money matters.

They should already be retired and enjoying their retirement life with their children (if they had any).

Somebody once told me that this song that I listen to, by Chris Rea, is simply a song that "I am too young to listen to".

Is it? I do not know. You be the judge.

Chris Rea - Fool (If You Think It's Over)

A dying flame, you're free again
Who could love and do that to you
All dressed in black, he won't be coming back
Save your tears, you've got years and years
The pains of seventeen's
Unreal they're only dreams
Save your crying for the day

Fool if you think it's over
'cos you said goodbye
Fool if you think it's over
I'll tell you why
New born eyes always cry with pain
At the first look at the morning sun
You're a fool if you think it's over
It's just begun

Miss teenage dream, such a tragic scene
He knocked your crown and ran away
First wound of pride and how you cried and cried
But save your tears you've got years and years

Fool if you think it's over
'cos you said goodbye
Fool if you think it's over
I'll tell you why
New born eyes always cry with pain
At the first look at the morning sun
You're a fool if you think it's over
It's just begun

I'll buy your first good wine
We'll have a real good time
Save your crying for the day
That may not come but anyone
Who had to pay would laugh at you and say

Fool if you think it's over
'cos you said goodbye
Fool if you think it's over
I'll tell you why

Just FYI, this song is from 1978.

Evening Run... #1

I went running in the evening.

I saw my neighbour's cat lazing along the corridor on the way out.

I petted the cat's head and it grinned at me.

I ran past some Gurkhas doing their daily runs.

I heard the wind in my ear.

I saw some kids playing at the fitness corner.

I saw kingfishers standing in the bed of a canel, hunting for fish in the fast-flowing waters.

I saw people getting off a bus, going home.

I saw some boys on bicycles.

I felt a sharp pain on the back of my neck when I reached home.

I tried to go to sleep early.

Another Workday... #2

Over the past few months, I have been training up my skills in the art of "bomb disarmament".

And I am getting good at it.