a Journey

Drivers, watch out:

My grandpa who's 80, still drives every once in awhile. The other day whilst he was driving over to visit the chiropractor in my area, he saw three Bangladeshi workers who were standing on the road divider. He slowed down to let them cross, but only one did. The other two remained on the road divider.

As he proceeded to drive on, he heard a loud thump on the boot of the car. He pulled up by the side of the road to investigate, and the two Bangladeshi workers who had remained on the road divider approached him. They claimed that my grandpa had knocked one of them down, as witnessed by the other worker who had remained on the divider with him. They demanded a compensation. So, they took everything grandpa had in his wallet which amounted to SGD 100. 

He was urged to make a police report after he told the chiropractor this incident. Unfortunately, the Bedok Reservoir stretch is undergoing major renovation/construction/upgrading works, so the police haven't managed to find the two workers.

I'm not sure if the third worker was involved in this scam. And just FYI: the road divider, is an elevated one so I don't think grandpa could have even run over their toes, like I wish he did.

So drivers, beware. This is not the first time something like that has happened. A girlfriend of mine once got into a minor scrap with a dispatch driver who worked for a fast food joint. It was a minor collision, and the driver proceeded with his deliveries after my girlfriend, M, insisted on bringing him to a doctor for a check-up.

She felt worried that he didn't want to see a doctor, and exchanged contacts with him, in case anything were to crop up later on, she volunteered to pay for his medical bills.

What possessed her to do this, I don't know. Maybe it was the fact that everything was fine and dandy after the mini-accident where his bike skidded into her car. There were no scratches on her car at all, and his bike was fine too.

Unfortunately for her, he called her the following day saying that he went for a check-up at a hospital and somehow or other, the bill came to 4-figures which he wanted to claim from her. She asked to see the receipt etc. and he went ballistic on the phone, swearing at her. At one point in time, he even threatened a lawsuit saying that he was unable to work from henceforth. Thankfully, M had the sense of mind to say she would contact her family lawyer.

Let's just say that the man dropped the whole notion of a lawsuit pretty fast. As for the receipt etc. Well, I don't remember M paying more than 3-figures after asking to see the validity of his claims, which turned out to be for a sprain hand. FYI: She did pay more than she had to because she felt sorry for him. Once again, I don't know why (?!).

Virgina Tech’s shooting jarringly reminded me of how a single bad apple could ruin an entire basket of apples. All that was wrong was Cho. A single bad apple. And now, an entire rosy red basket of 34 other apples have been ruined. Brutally and cruelly killed. It disgusts me how the selfish and demented actions of a single b*****d has brought nothing but pain and scars to the families and friends of those who’ve had their loved ones snatched from them.

But the world isn’t a fair place.

And so I cling to the hope that people will still choose hope, peace and love. I am clenching onto this hope with white, tight knuckles.