Kindness in Strangers

There are many things I've seen in my life that I wish I could just delete. Like a fight I saw near the Lembah Pantai bus-stop where a man strenuously battered another man with a helmet.

But there are also many things I've seen that when I recall them, it simply warms me to my toes. These things include little acts of kindness by strangers to fellow strangers.

Cold Treat for Deadbeat
I had just finished my usual McDonalds' after-school lunch and was waiting near the entrance for my friends. A middle-aged man sat crouching nearby. His clothes were filthy, he had a scraggly beard, his face was grubby and he had two empty cans of beer by his side. He wasn't handicapped in any way, unless you call being a drunk a handicap. I stood a few feet away from him, being careful not to catch his eye.

I group of Chinese girls exited McDonalds, all happily jabbering away. One of them was licking the last of her ice-cream cone. I could see the deadbeat staring at her and eventually, the young girl noticed it to. Her friends were all wrinkling their noses and looking at the deadbeat in disgust. The young girl turned back into McDonalds. I thought that she was probably going to go and complain to the manager that this deadbeat was loitering outside the restaurant.

She came back outside, and handed the deadbeat a fresh, new ice-cream cone.

Grandma is a Rock-Fan
It was a month before PMR exams and I was waiting for my parents in front of the National Library. Across the road, near the National Heart Institute, a car had broken down. A woman who looked about 60, was valiantly tinkering at her car's engine. She stood there in her baju kurung, sweating profusely and looking like she was going to cry. Cars whizzed by her. I felt helpless just looking at her.

Cars kept on whizzing by.

Then a van pulled up. 5 young men jumped out of the van. They were dressed in torn jeans and rock-star t-shirts, with long hair (this was during the days when Tok Mat had banned long-haired musicians from appearing on TV) One of them offered the woman a bottle of mineral water and invited her to sit in their air-conditioned van. They started to huddle at the engine and in 10 minutes, the car was running, good as new.

The woman thanked them profusely and took out her wallet. The 5 young gentlemen-rockers smiled, shook their heads and got into the van. When they saw that the woman was safely on her way, they sped away on theirs.

Driven by an Angel
This incident happened to yours truly. I was 16 and had a school project to do, so I told my parents that I'd take a taxi home. By the time I finished my project, it was late - around 7pm. I lugged my schoolbag(remember how heavy our books were those days?) and walked to the taxi stand in front of LOT 10. Half-way there, it started to rain. Really heavy, torrential rain.

The queue at the taxi stand was horrendously long. I stood there, soaking wet, for 1 whole hour before I reached the end of the line. And then disaster struck. NONE of the taxis wanted to take me to Ampang. Excuses ranked from "hujan laa" to "jauh la" to "traffic teruk laa". I asked around 10 taxis and NONE agreed to take me there... unless I paid them a fixed charge of RM50.

Yeah, right. RM50 from Lot 10 to Ampang. I may be 16 but I'm not nuts.

So I trudged back to school to call my parents (in those days, mobile phones were a luxury schoolkids could not afford). As luck would have it, my parents were out to dinner and could not be reached. I sat on the curb, in the dark and tried very hard not to cry. It was still raining but I didn't care - I was already soaked anyway.

A taxi pulled up. An old fellow got out of the taxi and asked me if I was alright. That was all it took. My frustrations burst out in spasms of ranting, raving, whining and whimpering. He told me he'd take me home. So I hopped in.

During the taxi ride, he started talking about his kids and how fast they're growing up. I listened politely but I guess the fatigue was too much to bear because I fell asleep. (Talk about RUDE!)

When I woke up, we were already in front of my house. I fumbled for my wallet but the pakcik said "Takpe nak, pergi masuk rumah tu, tukar baju.. nanti demam" (That's ok, child. Go on in and change your clothes... or you'll catch a cold)

I groggily muttered my gratitude and walked towards my house as the angel drove off into the night.

You must give some time to your fellow men. Even if it's a little thing, do something for others - something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it.
Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965)