brought my mum for her haircut and perm again today. been quite a while and her hair has gotten long and straightened. i could see her eyes sparkle when i brought her there. she was all cheery and smiley after her cut and perm. i commented that she looked very good and i guessed that made her day! we made our way to the sheng hong temple and the bright hill temple after the cut and perm. glad to see her so happy. and yes, talking about bright hill temple, something happened today and it reminded me that i had not blog about an interesting thing happened sometime back. so, here goes.
you see, i brought mum to the bright hill temple sometime late last year. that was when she had just gotten discharged from the hospital for her pneumonia and she was rather sickly and immobile. but she had wanted on going to bright hill temple to pray to the buddha and goddess of mercy at the temple. it was also something i wanted to do cos i knew how important such a visit would be to her psychologically. it was a couple of days after her discharge when we made the trip. at the temple, i wheeled her down to the temple of the ten-thousand hand goddess of mercy. after offering the incense outside the hall, i proceeded to wheel her into the temple hall itself. that was when the auntie caretaker shouted (a more appropriate word would be "scream") at us at the top of her voice across the hall: "ooi! ooi! ooi! you cannot push the wheelchair inside!" there are many things i dislike people doing and one of it was to shout out to me in a such a hostile manner and addressing me as "ooi!". harlow! i have a name lo. and if you do not know my name, at least call me "uncle" or "ah boy" or whatever. such rudeness always has an immediate effect on me. and on the spot, my temper rose. i was slightly trembling with fury as i walked up to her. i had to remind myself to stay calm. and clasping my hands in prayer posture as i approached her, i explained that my mum had just been discharged from the hospital and had really wanted to pray to the goddess of mercy. i guessed my explanation did not helped for she stared at me using her "i-wanna-kill-you-eyes!" and repeated at the top of her voice: "you cannot bring the wheelchair in! i have just swept the floor and you will dirty my floor!" hmmm, now this excuse sounded a little off-track and lame. so again, i held my breathe and explained firmly to her that the wheelchair was clean and that it would not dirty the floor. i went on to explain to her the importance of this visit and volunteered to clean the floor for her if the wheelchair dirtied the floor. i sounded like i was not going to give in. she too did not seemed too keen to let me pass. i maintained my stare. she did the same from the corner of her eyes. then, she gave in and reluctantly said something to the effect of "go! go! do it quick and get out!"... i did not like her tone, but i thanked her and continued to wheel my mum in to pray. it didn't bother me that the lady continued grumbling as i wheeled my mum to do her prayers. when we completed, i wheeled my mum out and i walked up to the lady again to thank her. frankly, my doing so was more out of sarcasm rather than to thank her. she again stared at me from the corner of her eyes and her blacker than black face. but i thought, what the heck, i did what i wanted to do. so, to hell with her! and we left.
anyway, i borught up this story now because this morning, when we reached the bright hill temple, the lady was there again. she was sitting by the entrance of the hall and of cos she recognised me. i mean, who wouldn't right? not many people bring their mother there in a wheelchair like i did, and much less had a little tiff with the lady. we reached there and we prayed. and this time, i decided not to antagonize the lady further. i decided to just pray outside the hall and left. but i did something naughty, i walked my mum one round the temple perimeter. and when i passed the lady, i stared right into her eyes. she looked away and then as if realizing that looking away was a recognition of defeat, she turned back and stared me into my eyes. i continued and locked my eyes at her. she did so too... i only looked away when i walked passed her. that short moment was one helluva hostile and tense.
admittedly, when i stared at her, i asked myself if there was a need. but i decided that i should relent to my vengeful side in the end. i decided that even if i were to say "hello good morning" to her, she would either give me a "what the hell" look or simply stare at me from the corner of her eyes. so, i decided to be bitchy instead. hmmm... well, i was naughty i must say. but it certainly did fulfil my ego. well... this is perhaps one of the few negative aspects of me that i must learn to let go. so far, it is still works in progress.
but whatever the case, i felt good doing it.
:-)
you see, i brought mum to the bright hill temple sometime late last year. that was when she had just gotten discharged from the hospital for her pneumonia and she was rather sickly and immobile. but she had wanted on going to bright hill temple to pray to the buddha and goddess of mercy at the temple. it was also something i wanted to do cos i knew how important such a visit would be to her psychologically. it was a couple of days after her discharge when we made the trip. at the temple, i wheeled her down to the temple of the ten-thousand hand goddess of mercy. after offering the incense outside the hall, i proceeded to wheel her into the temple hall itself. that was when the auntie caretaker shouted (a more appropriate word would be "scream") at us at the top of her voice across the hall: "ooi! ooi! ooi! you cannot push the wheelchair inside!" there are many things i dislike people doing and one of it was to shout out to me in a such a hostile manner and addressing me as "ooi!". harlow! i have a name lo. and if you do not know my name, at least call me "uncle" or "ah boy" or whatever. such rudeness always has an immediate effect on me. and on the spot, my temper rose. i was slightly trembling with fury as i walked up to her. i had to remind myself to stay calm. and clasping my hands in prayer posture as i approached her, i explained that my mum had just been discharged from the hospital and had really wanted to pray to the goddess of mercy. i guessed my explanation did not helped for she stared at me using her "i-wanna-kill-you-eyes!" and repeated at the top of her voice: "you cannot bring the wheelchair in! i have just swept the floor and you will dirty my floor!" hmmm, now this excuse sounded a little off-track and lame. so again, i held my breathe and explained firmly to her that the wheelchair was clean and that it would not dirty the floor. i went on to explain to her the importance of this visit and volunteered to clean the floor for her if the wheelchair dirtied the floor. i sounded like i was not going to give in. she too did not seemed too keen to let me pass. i maintained my stare. she did the same from the corner of her eyes. then, she gave in and reluctantly said something to the effect of "go! go! do it quick and get out!"... i did not like her tone, but i thanked her and continued to wheel my mum in to pray. it didn't bother me that the lady continued grumbling as i wheeled my mum to do her prayers. when we completed, i wheeled my mum out and i walked up to the lady again to thank her. frankly, my doing so was more out of sarcasm rather than to thank her. she again stared at me from the corner of her eyes and her blacker than black face. but i thought, what the heck, i did what i wanted to do. so, to hell with her! and we left.
anyway, i borught up this story now because this morning, when we reached the bright hill temple, the lady was there again. she was sitting by the entrance of the hall and of cos she recognised me. i mean, who wouldn't right? not many people bring their mother there in a wheelchair like i did, and much less had a little tiff with the lady. we reached there and we prayed. and this time, i decided not to antagonize the lady further. i decided to just pray outside the hall and left. but i did something naughty, i walked my mum one round the temple perimeter. and when i passed the lady, i stared right into her eyes. she looked away and then as if realizing that looking away was a recognition of defeat, she turned back and stared me into my eyes. i continued and locked my eyes at her. she did so too... i only looked away when i walked passed her. that short moment was one helluva hostile and tense.
admittedly, when i stared at her, i asked myself if there was a need. but i decided that i should relent to my vengeful side in the end. i decided that even if i were to say "hello good morning" to her, she would either give me a "what the hell" look or simply stare at me from the corner of her eyes. so, i decided to be bitchy instead. hmmm... well, i was naughty i must say. but it certainly did fulfil my ego. well... this is perhaps one of the few negative aspects of me that i must learn to let go. so far, it is still works in progress.
but whatever the case, i felt good doing it.
:-)
2 comments:
Those aunties are territorial beings. Step into their ring at your own risks. Probably only venerables have the golden shield.
Hmmm....just realise u bahave like the auntie. lol.
hahaha... you are so right!
am sure i'll give auntie lucy a good run for her money... oh, have i ever shared that 2 of my friends never fail to address me as "auntie bee choo" or "abc" for short whenever we meet? such an endearing term rite? lol!
:-)
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