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read between the lines
the fellowship of bystanders the flight back to sg wasn't as welcoming this year (compared to the last) -- i landed at the budget terminal instead of terminal 2 like last year, so there wasn't anything to shop for. the unwelcome feeling extended when i made it to cg. there was nothing wrong with the cell group meeting itself -- it was the usual, nothing eye-popping -- but it was how they reacted after lunch that really disappointed me.we had just finished our lunch in two separate long tables when our group leader suggested my table move to the other table when a few of the members there left. he walked past the cleaner auntie who had just stacked our trays and bowls together and you guessed it -- she tripped. the thing is, she tripped in five slow steps when she could've easily stopped at two, from my vantage point. let me explain: when someone falls, usually their first reaction would be to grab the floor to buffer their fall. this auntie must really love her bowls and plates because she made no such attempt and fell in slow motion from the table, to the chair (where she had time to elbow my bag, dump the bowls and food onto it and half of the trousers on me), to the floor (where the tray and remaining plates landed). in typical auntie fashion, she got up and began shouting her head off at my cg leader and blaming it all on him. she even claimed some scar on her forehead occured from the fall -- but anyone in their right mind could see that it was an old scar. everyone else seemed to be frozen in shock, until all eyes in the food court zoomed in on us and the commotion this bitch was making (i'm sorry, but the way she continued to react which i will write about below left me inwardly seething). eventually my cg leader told her it's okay, apologised and agreed to help clean up. eventually her colleagues called her away (wisely so). everyone centred around him but me, even though he escaped without a single item of food on him nor his bag. "i didn't push her," he said and some people nodded. "i think she fell...on purpose," i said, and this girl next to me (who is famous for giving animated expressions) glared and asked me how i could say that. wait a minute -- the cg leader says something defensive and people support him, and i say something similar and people get upset? i decided not to say anymore and start cleaning food off my bag with the four pieces of tissue paper i had left with me from my travels. nobody offered me any tissues nor opted to to buy them for me, even though we were standing in a food court that sells tissue packets. a total of ONE guy asked me if i was all right. eventually i had to go to the sink area to clean off because my trouser leg was literally dripping with black mee sauce and my bag still had bits of mee stuck to it. that same guy said he'd get the rest to wait for me -- i said they didn't need to (but i at least expected them to say goodbye as i cleaned myself off, which i shouldn't have, 'cos nobody came for me). while i was cleaning myself off with sink water, hand sanitizer and self-purchased rolls of toilet paper (there was a slot machine for this there), the cleaner auntie was dramatising the entire incident next to me, in front of her fellow cleaner aunties and enjoying the fuss they were giving her by applying cream on her forehead and telling her not to worry about it. i mean, i was quite a sight to behold, drenched in foodstuff and so visible that everyone at the sink area stared at me, but all this noodle-spiller cares about is the attention she's getting from milking the situation for all its worth. thankfully, i had a gigantic shopping bag with me (having purchased a skin for my macbook air which i ended up returning anyway because it didn't fit my model) and a smaller bag which wasn't affected in the spillout that had a spare change of clothing, so i went to the restroom to change into my shorts, dump my mee-covered bag and trousers into the apple store bag, and shift the contents from my dirty bag into the smaller bag (thankfully, other than a few bits of wipeable food items, the stuff in my bag didn't get drenched). when i finally walked out of the sink area, i couldn't see anyone i knew. i checked my phone and found an sms from said concerned guy stating that everyone had left first. wow, thanks everyone for not saying goodbye. i mean, i'd just taken the fall by bearing the brunt of my cell group's foodstuff (not even the auntie who fell was food-splattered) so is it too much to ask, to expect the cg to at least show some form of concern? sheesh. i somehow made the rest of the trip back across to my own country in silent calm. the only thing that kept me sane was knowing that there was someone who'd care the minute i'd got back, and this person did (for that i am thankful; otherwise, that day would've turned out so much worse than i'd handled it). like i said, (true) friends make tough days like these more tolerable. |
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