I just came back from the local post office. My youngest drove me there, it was a privilege to be driven after years of acting as the taxi driver of the family. While I waited in queue to complete my errand, my child went grocery shopping. After my transaction, I fell in conversation with an attractive person sitting next to me.
It may sound strange to you, but it is not unusual for me to talk to a stranger and found out within minutes what matter most to them at that split second. In this case I am glad to be able to say a few things to comfort, right a lopsided perspective and encourage the person concerned. Chances are, I may never meet the person again, nor is there any need to.
We shall call her Choon Ying, meaning cherry blossom in spring. She has lovely features, is slim built and has a certain intense look about her. If I may guess, she could be a medical doctor or a research scientist. I know for sure that her husband is in IT, as she answered my query about him. While waiting for my turn at the service counter, I heard him talking to the counter staff and his wife. It was just a sentence here and a few words there, yet it reminded me strongly of one of my favourite students many years ago. No, he wasn't my student, he is too young. At thirty one, he was only in the second year of high school when I taught my last class which happened to be a Computer Science and Mathematics combination in a local college.
As the sharing unfolds, I found that she was on her first trip to my home country to meet her in-laws. Both she and her husband have permanent jobs in say, Sweden. Her husband relocated specially to court and marry her in Europe. Sad to say, not all of her husband's nearest and dearest were polite and kind to her, a new addition to that sprawling extended family. As she told me that she did all she could possibly to be friends with everyone in her husband's family, her eyes were filled with tears. Quickly she blinked them away. Call it a divine appointment, I was able to explain to her why my country women could be so short-sighted and rude to a foreigner. There is no excuse, really, but the world is made up of all kinds of people.
I suppose I am predisposed to liking Choon Ying's country, as my uncle resides there. Since he came a number of times to visit us and I went to pay him a long visit once, I am intrigued by that country. It is not so for some people in my country, for the newspaper gives a very bad press to that particular country - namely con-men and social escorts that originate from there. If by now, you can identify the above incident, you must have been present at the post office over hearing our conversation or you are a friend of Choon Ying or her husband. If you are my compatriot, please do what you can to right this wrong. We live in an increasingly international world, we call it a global village. There is no room for xenophobia. And I sure hope that the next time Choon Ying visits my country, it will be under more pleasant circumstances and she will meet more pleasant folks.
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