LOVE, Kloudiia

Yesterday went on pretty well I thought.

I guess the biggest “complain” I had, or rather my mom and I had was when we had our dinner.

You see, me and my mom went to my grandaunt’s home, who’s in her 80s for Chinese New Year visiting. We promised to bring her to dinner, but because it’s only the fourth day of CNY, therefore many shops are still closed for business. Even the coffee shop around the corner was only selling drinks. 

So we had to take a taxi and go search for the nearest food centre where we could fill our stomachs.

My grandaunt lives on the 3rd storey. She have difficulties walking, considering her age, so she will walk in very small steps at a snail pace. Which to us, is perfectly fine. We’ll just stroll along with her while telling her to take her time and don’t hurry.

So imagine this old lady having to climb down 3 steps of stairs before she can reach her lobby to hop onto a taxi.

There I was, thinking that perhaps if I got one she needn’t have to stand there and wait. Knowing that it’s CNY and it’s hard to get a cab (especially when we need one), I flagged one when I saw one in sight.

I told the taxi driver some very vague instructions on where to go, which went like this:

K: “Uncle, would you please take us to the nearest place where the food centre is open? I’m not sure where it is, but my grandaunt can direct you. Would you please wait for a while as she’s walking down now?”

T: “What? Where you going?” (oh btw, all these took place in Mandarin)

I repeated the above sentence to the taxi driver. Not exactly word for word, but the same meaning.

T: “Where’s the person now?”

K: “She’s coming down now. Would you please wait for a while, cos she’s pretty old and needs some time to come down. You can start your meter running now, it’s ok”

T: “She’s still not here yet! Have to wait, ar?”

K: “Ya, but she’s coming down now. You can start your meter Uncle, it’s ok”

Taxi driver signalled me to just get the hell out of his car and he’s not going to wait.

I was about to curse something under my breath when I caught myself immediately before I did that.

Then I thought, if I were to say “What a selfish man. So uncaring and impatient” would that be considered ac complaining, or not?

I didn’t want to debate on that as I caught a glimpse of my grandaunt making her way down the last step of stairs. And, I saw another taxi in sight!

Quickly, I flagged it again.

This time, I told the cab driver to wait for a while as I pointed to him my grandaunt and my mum. He was ok! He nodded his head, gave me a hand signal telling me he’ll wait.

I thanked him.

He brought us to the nearest food centre, which was less than 5 minutes ride. And he waited for approximately 3 minutes I guess for my grandaunt, without his meter turned on.

On our way back, the taxi driver was also a very kind soul. He waited for my mom to walk my grandaunt back home before fetching us to our next destination. While waiting he told me that his mom is also about the same age as my grandaunt, and she too has to walk very slowly taking small strides. So he can understand how it is with old people around.

If I were to complain about the first one, maybe I wouldn’t have the blessings to meet two such nice drivers after that.

And I was saying we were complaining during dinner, right? This was what happened.

My mom was the one who placed the order, while I sat there with my grandaunt. When the dishes came, we were shocked that she’d ordered 4 dishes! Gosh! For 3 people (I mean technically speaking, those who have eaten with me will know I can at best be considered half a person) only!

I had this thought, but I didn’t voice it out. My mom did. She said the lady who took our orders “don’t know how to do business”. She should have warned us that for only 3 people, we don’t need to have so many dishes as we probably won’t be able to finish.

That’s what I felt too. Then I told her that no, she’s “too good at doing business” that’s why she didn’t stop you from ordering more! So we shook our heads. Sign.

Bam! I’m complaining!

I caught myself instantly. Why am I fussing about having more to eat, when there are heaps of less fortunate people without food to warm their stomachs? A shot of guilt came through me.

Immediately, I told my mom let’s not complain and we’ll eat whatever we can, and pack the leftovers home.

At that instant, I’m grateful for the abundance of food we have on the table and there’s always enough to go round for everyone. I’m grateful for the fact that as old as my grandaunt is, she still has a healthy appetite and is able to sit down and enjoy a nice dinner with us. I’m grateful that we didn’t have to scour the entire housing estate to find food, but we got it pretty easy and fast.

The dinner went well, and guess what? Maybe it’s because I was in a grateful state, we actually managed to finish up most of the dishes! Ha! Hmm, made us seemed a little “hypocritical”? Well…

The day ended very nicely when I went for my mass. We’re celebrating Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of the sacred Lent festival. Lent is the 40 day period before Jesus Christ was crucified and later risen again to Heaven on Easter. He fasted, prayed and gave arms during that period. As a result, Father John-Paul mentioned in his gospel that 40 is actually a signficant number in the Bible. Well, he celebrated his 40th birthday in good cheers too! That’s what he said haha

All of us were given an ash marking of a cross on our forehead as part of the ritual, to symbolise penance or something. Of course, I was extremely grateful for being there, on time, and to take part in such a meaningful session with God. Yesterday was my first time attending an Ash Wednesday mass. Being slightly early (incidentally haha), I got some time to pray first before mass began. I was grateful for those few extra minutes!

That’s all for Day 2 friends.

[tags]gratitude, abundance, food, taxi, Ash Wednesday, fasting, Lent, God[/tags]