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read between the lines
checkpoint woes god has really been testing my limits these past few weeks. the human jam at the checkpoint -- the thing i've feared and dreaded the most -- is something i've had to contend with every day since that terrorist guy escaped.it used to be that people who owned thumbprint cards could escape the crowd 'cause the lanes were usually nearly empty and it didn't take long to get people through. but ever since 'prison break', whenever i arrive from the hour-long vehicle jam on the causeway i am greeted by the frightening sight of people overflowing out of the thumbprint access area. people who push and shove like nobody's business just to get into the queues (the metal railings that prevent the entire crowd from becoming a free-for-all the way the stampede for the 170 bus at jb customs is like). just after i made it through that phase and thought the worst was over, some anonymous imbecile trips me just at the bottom of the escalators and i nearly fall. obviously angry, i yell in annoyance only to find that the culprit has escaped in the other direction. here i am, already taking pains to go down the escalator quickly with my split and cracked heel, and here this idiot is doing a 'trip-and-run' on me. at that point i seriously thought twice about going to work. thank god i somehow went eventually -- thanks to my mom's co-praying. seriously, if anyone wants to be tested on the virtue of patience they should go through the daily hell that is the customs-checkpoint at peak hour that i go through. it really takes an even-tempered person or a person to eventually buckle to the virtues of patience and love to endure this kind of lifestyle on a long-term basis. thankfully, from tuesday onwards the crowd and the jam was noticeably lighter. i took two hours to come home daily -- still a lot, considering i normally take an hour and a quarter, but it's an improvement i suppose. unfortunately the crowd at thumbprint area never seems to clear, but i am grateful that there have been moments where i arrive when the crowd is just only starting to overflow and am therefore able to get into a queue before all hell breaks loose. one perturbation which i found amusing only on hindsight was the case of the smiling cheat on tuesday. a diminutive, middle-aged lady who targeted me twice -- once at the thumbprint access queue and the other, at the bus queue -- would amble up to the space next to me, flash a smile and cut my queue. the first time i refused to budge and she started to wobble sideways as if she wanted to pass, so i let her through to join some other queue on my left. the second time she just flashed the same smile, as if to say "hehe, i'm going to cut your queue okay? hehe," and just deftly slipped in front of me before i could budge. not to be outdone, i promptly stepped in front of her and lined up like before. she might be short and old, but after spending some hard-earned minutes just to line my way through the queue to get this near to the bus, it boggles my mind how she justifies a winning smile as a valid ticket for playing unfair. heck, if that was the case i'd be smiling my way through the customs! thursday was the only other incident that pissed me off. i was finally at the front of the line, waiting for the next person to scan his thumb and get through, when this korrenga pokes his index finger insistently on my shoulder and asks me to slot in my card. in general, i despise being touched by strangers -- for all i know he could have scratched his butt or picked his nose with that finger. i try to explain that if i do that, my card will get jammed in the slot because it's happened before several times...and this recalcitrant tries to argue. i ended up defending my point right until i was in there scanning my thumb. thank god i didn't have more time to stand around and chit-chat, 'cause if i did i would've just blown my top and done something really uncharacteristic of a christian. with regards to my health, the cut in my heel finally closed up on wednesday and the cracks around it healed considerably when i rested at home on friday and saturday but unfortunately, i came down with the flu friday morning and have been gradually getting worse with the exception of the past few hours since i've taken stronger medication. amidst all this, it is good to have good friday and easter sunday remind me that all i am going through now is temporal and eternal life in a perfect heavenly body and a perfect world is in store for me, as shown by christ risen on the cross. as this week approached, i couldn't help but be reminded of what happened last easter. but almost immediately i was reminded that easter is about hope, not hurt and about promise, not pain. and hope that i will one day realise in my heart that the strong sense of injustice i feel whenever someone has wronged me, be it at the checkpoint, at home or at work, will be vindicated by my god at the right time as he sees fit. and so the fourth week of checkpoint woes continues. |
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