April 10, 2013
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It really poured this evening, huh?
Driving home from office tonight, I had the
window on my driver's side all the way down.
Seemed like just the right time for a stick.
At the intersection between Sime Darby
and Maju Junction, a motorcyclist pulled
up next to me to wait out the red light.
I looked at him from inside the cold and
dry confines of my car, careful not to
exhale in his direction. He looked at me.
He was young, with Chinese features.
"Lebat kan?" I asked.
The poor guy was drenched.
I gestured apologetically to my stick.
He smiled back, as if saying, it's ok.
"Itu lah. Traffic pun sama lebat."
He wiped droplets of water off his face.
"Nak balik jauh ke ni?"
"Cheras." He gave a wane smile, as if
foreseeing the long, arduous ride home.
"Akak dari office ke?"
(Akak? Oh very well then, young man)
"Ha'ah. Ingatkan kalau balik lambat
traffic elok sikit. Sama je sebenarnya."
"Jauh ke office akak? Kerja mana?"
"Um. Tak jauh." Didn't want to say more.
He nodded, as if understanding that his
latter question brought me discomfort.
But with an easy smile, he offered,
"Saya baru turun dari bangunan DBKL."
And then it really started pouring.
I slowly brought my window up.
"Drive slow-slow, akak." He reminded.
My heart warmed.
"Awak pun. Elok-elok sikit ya."
He nodded and pulled down the
drenched visor of his helmet.
My window locked, and
the light turned green.
Sometimes I take small talk for granted,
especially those that occur spontaneously,
for example, as I am crossing the street
and a conversation naturally starts between
myself and the person walking next to me.
We could be sharing a joke.
Maybe bond over reckless drivers,
or bad traffic, or berserk weather.
It could be a simple smile, a quick,
non-committal hey how's it going?.
On rare occasions where we end up
heading for the same destination,
the conversation takes a friendlier
tone and by the time comes when
we part ways and wish each other
well, I am sincere in saying it.
The point is, that short chat at the
intersection last night did something for
me in the way that it was comforting to
know there is always time to make, as we
go about our days, to connect with people.
And you never really know the difference
it may bring to a person's day. For me,
at least, that three-minute conversation
made the rest of my drive home more than
a little bearable. And sometimes, things like
this, they just make you smile for no reason.
Sometimes we need that.
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