Early in the Morning

If you haven't noticed from my pictures (the few that I put up anyway), I have funny teeth. In a time where almost anyone who can afford to reconstruct their pearlies has done so, I have left mine untouched. Save for the brushing, that is. And I suppose that's always led me to believe that I don't have a nice smile. Today, however, my colleague was looking at me and all of a sudden, she said, "don't wear braces ok?". That really took me by surprise. All my life, it's been, "so when are you gonna get braces?" and suddenly, someone tells me not to do it. She went on to say that she liked the way my teeth looked, that they were cute and I shouldn't ruin them by getting them all straight. WELL. *GRIN*. Apparently, they are unique and have character :) Now why didn't someone tell me this years ago?? I could have cut back on all those times spent trying to manually push my teeth into position (without much success of course. If I could do it, either my teeth are VERY weak or my fingers are VERY strong).

So today, the office was a rather frenzied place. I stepped out of the elevator at nine in the morning, to see half the office standing/sitting outside the door, waiting for the gatekeeper to rescue them. Turned out the card access door wasn't working and the person with the key to the main door hadn't arrived. I felt really bad for those who came in at 7.30am to get work done. Including my E-I-C. But that wasn't nearly as bad as the power failure at the end of the day. At about 6pm, the air conditioning shut down and all the computers simultaneously went blank, to the gasps of designers and writers alike. All in unison too. Somewhere down the corridor, echoes of dismay were heard from Cleo and Harper's. I was rather amused. Well, there was nothing left to do but sit around the table and munch on tapioca chips. Half an hour later, with a semi-full tummy, I decided to make my exit and bade a fond farewell to my colleagues who would probably be staying late, no thanks to the computer strike.

On a more sober note, as I was lulling between dreamland and reality on the train to work, I heard some babbling. Then a loud "Ding Dong!". And again. And again. And then the hooting started. In sheer amazement, I left dreamworld and turned to see a teenager with his hand to his mouth, chiming out, "Ding Dong!". Then he started babbling. To anyone who would listen. After a while, he ran over to the door where I was and for a split second, I was worried that I might be in some sort of danger (I know, stupid thought.. but it was 8.30 in the morning...) but all he did was stand at the door, looking very eager to get out at his station. He continued ding-donging and proceeded to knock on the door of the train. When the doors finally opened at his destination, he jumped out like the eager child that he was and ran off to the escalators in such pure joy. His t-shirt read, "MINDS". For the non-Singaporeans, MINDS is a special school that caters to the mentally disabled. I saw a lady follow him. She was probably his mother or a relative. And what I saw next broke my heart. She took out a hanky and started wiping her eyes. She must have seen the queer looks that people on the train gave him. She must have seen the frowns on people's faces as he disturbed their morning peace. She must have seen the disapproving stares, the unkind looks, the hearts that were afraid of him. And she must have felt the excruciating pain of having to bear all this and balance it with the unconditional love for that young man. I was so ashamed of myself. Ashamed that I ever felt threatened by a boy who obviously meant no harm to anyone and was simply pouring out an exuberance in a way that so many of us have forgotten. I was ashamed of my selfishness. I only cared about myself. What a lesson that young man taught me. What a lesson in unconditional love and acceptance.

And it all happened on a train, early in the morning.