I've always hated commuting. It's not so much the journey, it's more like squeezing with all those inconsiderate people in the morning that just spoils the whole day. And it's very tiring and trying to begin with. It's almost like a moving museum of human behaviour, happening right before your very eyes. At the same time, I wish I swapped out my eyes for a bunch of video cameras that provide a live feed directly to some new reality channel, ah that will truly be reality!
Just the other day: The next station after I got on, there was this elderly man, white hair with a bit of a hunch. He boarded the train and went to find a seat. Can you believe that nobody got up for him to sit down. I was standing next to him in front of the seats meant for the elderly and disabled. The 2 ladies (if you can call them ladies!) and men (thankfully not gentlemen) just pretended to sleep. Worse, one of the ladies took a peek every time the train stopped to see what station she was at and she couldn't even stand up to give up her seat for this poor old man. What's worse, eventually when he got to sit down, it was almost 20 minutes later, 10 stations later. And it wasn't because the people didn't get up to give up their seats, they got up because it was either their stop or they were changing to another train!
Here's another lesson, same train, same time, different event: This lady, an auntie, probably working some blue-collar job like cashier or shop assistant (sorry, I'm not looking down on them, it's the way they dress that leads you to believe that they probably are in those professions). She boarded the train, and squeezed in all the way to stand in front of me. Can you believe it, there was no space in front of me, if I bent my knees a little, I'd probably touch the knees of those people sitting down. Well, there she was, squeezing in front of me, probably thinking I look good behind her.
Here, I digress a little, you know when trains go underground, the glass windows looking out sort of become mirrors because they're so dark underground. Well, this auntie started to preen herself. She straightened her hair, straightened her blue-collared blouse (it wasn't blue, but oh well), she adjusted numerous things, not that they weren't already rather neat. Looking dainty and all that, after 5 minutes of preening, she decided to to open her trusty handbag and lo and behold, take out her nail clipper!
My goodness, does she have no shame?? She started clipping her nails on the train, and then I saw her catch the clippings in her palm and told myself, oh wow, she's actually going to keep them and throw them out. How wrong I was! After clipping all her nails (thank goodness she didn't bend down to do her toes too!) she put them in her palm and just leisurely pretended to lower her hands and open her palms, letting her DNA fall all over the train, scattering them like how ferns scatter their spores far and wide. It was truly disgusting, truly 3rd world, truly human behaviour.
Another time, another place: I thought I saw it all, apparently, all that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg! Do ladies rush out of the house without time to do their makeup? How do they attempt to leave the house? Covered in a hood or put a paper bag over their heads with holes for their eyes to see out of? Are they so dreadful they have to put on makeup on the train? There was this young lady, probably 20-odd (she looked old lah without her makeup definitely). What was that phrase, beautiful from far, far from beautiful? Anyway, she was taking out her compact and putting on layers and layers of makeup there in front of everybody. She even took out her eyelash curlers and started curling her eyelashes!
Some of these people just don't know how to behave on the train. I know, they'll probably defend themselves using the universal excuse: No Time! But consider this, they could wake up early enough to put on their clothes and wear their shoes, but putting on makeup on the train, curling their eyelashes and clipping their nails are just something they don't have time to do? Perhaps they should just pack everything they need in a bag, and rush naked to catch the train, then when they're on the train, they start putting on item by item. Pfft! Bidding time and personal maintenance are completely different. To kill time, you read a novel, magazine, newspaper or just listen to music.
But then of course, you have me, who didn't really do much, except listen to music and observe everyone else's behaviour, then you see how truly disgusting they all are!
Just the other day: The next station after I got on, there was this elderly man, white hair with a bit of a hunch. He boarded the train and went to find a seat. Can you believe that nobody got up for him to sit down. I was standing next to him in front of the seats meant for the elderly and disabled. The 2 ladies (if you can call them ladies!) and men (thankfully not gentlemen) just pretended to sleep. Worse, one of the ladies took a peek every time the train stopped to see what station she was at and she couldn't even stand up to give up her seat for this poor old man. What's worse, eventually when he got to sit down, it was almost 20 minutes later, 10 stations later. And it wasn't because the people didn't get up to give up their seats, they got up because it was either their stop or they were changing to another train!
Here's another lesson, same train, same time, different event: This lady, an auntie, probably working some blue-collar job like cashier or shop assistant (sorry, I'm not looking down on them, it's the way they dress that leads you to believe that they probably are in those professions). She boarded the train, and squeezed in all the way to stand in front of me. Can you believe it, there was no space in front of me, if I bent my knees a little, I'd probably touch the knees of those people sitting down. Well, there she was, squeezing in front of me, probably thinking I look good behind her.
Here, I digress a little, you know when trains go underground, the glass windows looking out sort of become mirrors because they're so dark underground. Well, this auntie started to preen herself. She straightened her hair, straightened her blue-collared blouse (it wasn't blue, but oh well), she adjusted numerous things, not that they weren't already rather neat. Looking dainty and all that, after 5 minutes of preening, she decided to to open her trusty handbag and lo and behold, take out her nail clipper!
My goodness, does she have no shame?? She started clipping her nails on the train, and then I saw her catch the clippings in her palm and told myself, oh wow, she's actually going to keep them and throw them out. How wrong I was! After clipping all her nails (thank goodness she didn't bend down to do her toes too!) she put them in her palm and just leisurely pretended to lower her hands and open her palms, letting her DNA fall all over the train, scattering them like how ferns scatter their spores far and wide. It was truly disgusting, truly 3rd world, truly human behaviour.
Another time, another place: I thought I saw it all, apparently, all that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg! Do ladies rush out of the house without time to do their makeup? How do they attempt to leave the house? Covered in a hood or put a paper bag over their heads with holes for their eyes to see out of? Are they so dreadful they have to put on makeup on the train? There was this young lady, probably 20-odd (she looked old lah without her makeup definitely). What was that phrase, beautiful from far, far from beautiful? Anyway, she was taking out her compact and putting on layers and layers of makeup there in front of everybody. She even took out her eyelash curlers and started curling her eyelashes!
Some of these people just don't know how to behave on the train. I know, they'll probably defend themselves using the universal excuse: No Time! But consider this, they could wake up early enough to put on their clothes and wear their shoes, but putting on makeup on the train, curling their eyelashes and clipping their nails are just something they don't have time to do? Perhaps they should just pack everything they need in a bag, and rush naked to catch the train, then when they're on the train, they start putting on item by item. Pfft! Bidding time and personal maintenance are completely different. To kill time, you read a novel, magazine, newspaper or just listen to music.
But then of course, you have me, who didn't really do much, except listen to music and observe everyone else's behaviour, then you see how truly disgusting they all are!
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