The Cost of a (:-)

I was jogging alone the other day, late in the evening. It has rained before, so my run included a few leaps and hops to avoid the muddy puddles of water all along the track. So much of my attention was focussed on trying not to step into one, that I hardly noticed the few pedestrians that cold night.

I had just crossed a group of people walking in the opposite direction, and something made me come to a shuddering halt. It was the sound of a whole-hearted "Hello!!" from one of the walkers. I stopped, quite surprised(or shocked?) and turned around to see who it was - a complete stranger with a warm smile on his face.

Now this hasnt happened to me too often in Singapore. As if its a disease that prevails only in large cities, human interactions especially between complete strangers is kept to a minimum here. A variety of vending machines, automatic ticketing machines, tap-n-go cards in public transport, self-checkout modules in libraries, efficient street-maps more recently GPS in NokiaN95s, only make sure you can live your entire day without bothering anybody with a query.

Strangers in trains and buses sit glued to the mobiles tapping smses or listening to their ipods in their own world. Even inside the confines of an elevator, people prefer to admire their shoe-laces than look up and say 'hi' to other passengers. Some people avoid eye-contact at any
cost, and so even if you smile at them it is not going to be noticed. But that doesnt mean all these men and women are unfriendly - they are just reluctant to start a conversation with a stranger. Eventually the only people who talk to you are people whom you already know-friends,
colleagues, acquaintances etc.

So why did this nice stranger say 'Hello' to me ? What arms him with this disarmingly friendly attitude, which prompted me to wish back "Hi..How do you do ?" The answer came in a moment, when another walker gently took Mr.Smiler's arm and made him continue his walk. I soon realised that he was one of the trainees in MINDS-an organisation that imparts life-skills for mentally challenged people, undergoing his daily walking routine.

I leave it to you here, to muse about this incident, like I was lost in thoughts, while walking the remaining distance back to my home.

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- If you see someone without a smile, give them some of yours.

Frozen Brains on Fridays

On Friday evenings, my body shows ample symptoms to indicate that blood sugar is depleted and I need an ice-cream to save myself from certain brain-death. Today I felt the same, and marched to the cafeteria and digged the freezer and took out a Cornetto.

Before the bill counter, I noticed that they had stocked slices of cheezy pizza in the warm box- a new welcome addition, to the otherwise boring array of curry puffs and rock-solid muffins. The manager of the cafeteria, walked past and I stopped him to ask :

I: "Excuse me, Which one of these is fattier ? the icecream or the pizza?"

He: (became serious, seemed to remember his nutrition and dietitics
lessons and replied) " Obviously the ice-cream has more fat, Sir"

I: "Then let me buy the icecream !'

He: "eh..?"