Faces
Everyone has his/her own story. The blur of humanity that you pass every day on the street, each of them has a face which you don't see, and eyes you don't look into, to discover the soul that lies within.
Whether it be having a disturbed childhood, having family problems, coming from a very poor background, suffering from break-up trauma, everyone who walks straight and stands tall, could be dealing with their own demons in the only way they know how - to put a brave face on it, and go on living, hiding behind a well-practised front, so no one can tell.
This was a fact brought home to me just 15 minutes ago. In a what can only be called a comedy of errors, I ended up having to pay a cab driver £65 for my friend's cab ride to Heathrow. Not being the kind of girl who has ready cash on hand, the cabbie had to drive me to a cash machine to withdraw the money. On the way, I discovered that he was ill the week before and couldn't work, and his cab rental was due - if he didn't pay up, he would be jobless next week. Even then, he was nice to my friend, telling her not to worry about him not getting her money, and letting her board her flight, taking the chance on collecting from me, when there was no guarantee he would be able to recoup that amount. Who would have known that the money was so important to him? His ability to be kind under the circumstances, was all the more admirable.
What might seem insignificant to one person, could be critical to another person. It's this asymmetry of information, the unthinkingness of one party, or just two people having a bad day, that can often cause a blow-up from the most innocuous of things.
Earlier in the day, I saw a girl go postal in the post office. She was ranting and raving and ended up crying just because the guy wouldn't help her with something small. At the time, I was wondering: "What's wrong with her?" I had never imagined that drama would take place in a post office of all places. But then I thought, I don't know what's going through her head, or her life. She could be at the end of her tether.
There are days when I'm all smiley and sunshiney to the whole world, even random strangers. Then there are bad days, when I glower at everyone, shove my way past people on the tube, and shoot evil dirty looks at people who so much as walk too slowly for my liking.
Okay... so I could be schizoid, or suffer from multiple-personality disorder. But I think it all boils down to the fact that life is just happening to me. And it's the same for everyone else.
"And the moral of the story is..."
we should be a little bit more patient, a little bit kinder, a little more forgiving when we are in the mood to be, because we don't know what the other person is going through. And we don't know when we might need someone else to show us that extra bit of understanding.
Whether it be having a disturbed childhood, having family problems, coming from a very poor background, suffering from break-up trauma, everyone who walks straight and stands tall, could be dealing with their own demons in the only way they know how - to put a brave face on it, and go on living, hiding behind a well-practised front, so no one can tell.
This was a fact brought home to me just 15 minutes ago. In a what can only be called a comedy of errors, I ended up having to pay a cab driver £65 for my friend's cab ride to Heathrow. Not being the kind of girl who has ready cash on hand, the cabbie had to drive me to a cash machine to withdraw the money. On the way, I discovered that he was ill the week before and couldn't work, and his cab rental was due - if he didn't pay up, he would be jobless next week. Even then, he was nice to my friend, telling her not to worry about him not getting her money, and letting her board her flight, taking the chance on collecting from me, when there was no guarantee he would be able to recoup that amount. Who would have known that the money was so important to him? His ability to be kind under the circumstances, was all the more admirable.
What might seem insignificant to one person, could be critical to another person. It's this asymmetry of information, the unthinkingness of one party, or just two people having a bad day, that can often cause a blow-up from the most innocuous of things.
Earlier in the day, I saw a girl go postal in the post office. She was ranting and raving and ended up crying just because the guy wouldn't help her with something small. At the time, I was wondering: "What's wrong with her?" I had never imagined that drama would take place in a post office of all places. But then I thought, I don't know what's going through her head, or her life. She could be at the end of her tether.
There are days when I'm all smiley and sunshiney to the whole world, even random strangers. Then there are bad days, when I glower at everyone, shove my way past people on the tube, and shoot evil dirty looks at people who so much as walk too slowly for my liking.
Okay... so I could be schizoid, or suffer from multiple-personality disorder. But I think it all boils down to the fact that life is just happening to me. And it's the same for everyone else.
"And the moral of the story is..."
we should be a little bit more patient, a little bit kinder, a little more forgiving when we are in the mood to be, because we don't know what the other person is going through. And we don't know when we might need someone else to show us that extra bit of understanding.
3 Comments:
the hideous neocon side of me blames some people for being woe-is-me weak. but it's overrided by the fact that many, maaany many people really are worse off than ourselves. : /
- Steve
By
Anonymous, at 10:02 AM
many a time we tend to think of our unhappy sides - while failing to realise that we are actually more fortunate than many out there.
By
Rabbit, at 2:44 AM
hey dearie...yupz...especially during the period of christmas, we should be reminded to be a little more patient, a little kinder....Isn't that what Christmas is all about? :)
By
vyanne, at 1:46 PM
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