Friday, October 17, 2008
story.
Let me tell you a story.
i decided to cab to work, no thanks to that nasty humongous blister i got from walking home (can you say H-U-M-O-N-G-O-U-S, it spans the width of my entire toe, from after the nail to 1st joint).
there were 2 cabs, one had the red 'BUSY' sign, followed by another with a green 'AVAILABLE' sign. so i flagged the green one, but the red one stopped. grumpy old man it was, but ok lor, he stop so i hopped on.
we moved off, and a distance down, he suddenly said, '如果要吃糖你自己拿hor?' (there was a big plastic container of burger gummies at the centre rest)
i was like, errrrrrrr. *weird* 谢谢but不用la, 早餐还没有吃不可以吃糖。
and he said, 不要紧， 你可以拿，留晚上吃嘛!
i still politely refused, was kinda taken aback at this point.
then he said, 如果要tissue,也可以拿hor.
me said, wah uncle, then 你的车费也是免费的啊！
he said, har! 那个不可以啦！！！
me went, 我以为全部免费可以拿嘛！开玩笑啦！ But 你的服务很好leh, 很难的！
he replied, wah 你这个女孩很风趣。 可是这是为了答谢你们嘛， 谢谢你们这么自持我，坐我的车。我不可以亏待support 我的人leh.
and so, after i got off the cab, i offered him one of my newly acquired matcha biscuits.
and he charged me 20cents less.
and i walked out happie.
and walked away with many thoughts.
uno: never judge a book by its cover. appearances are deceptive. his actions changed the entire way i view/judged/stereotyped him as a person.
dos: small things matter. a tiny action goes a long way, ppl will remember it. same goes for bad things.
tres: value-addedness. that 'extra' touch. the right-mindedness we need and can work towards.
cuatro: goodness begets goodness, kindness begets kindness. its a never ending cycle of goodwill!
cinco: compliments shld be used more often. when said from the heart, they reinforce the good things tat are innate in you, make you happie, and u'll prob make someone else happie too. wats there not to like about it?
seis: positive thinking and pride in work. customers come in all sorts of shapes sizes and temperaments. his perception of his customers really takes positive thinking to another notch. i'm impressed, i dont tink i can do it.
speaking of ppl who take pride in work, i'm impressed by this kindly old chef at the hawker near my house. his hokkien mee is damn good, for 3bucks you get a mountainful of noodles soaked in yummy prawn broth and you know wat? he bothers to cook the prawns/squid separately from the noodles and carefully arranges them on top of the noodles, then dishing up with 2 types of chilli by the side.
at times like this, i cant help but be selfish, and wish these great chefs (plus the chwee kueh uncle at bukit merah) will 长身不老 so i can enjoy their yummy creations forever!
oh and by the way, another lesson i learnt today - resist ALL urges to sneeze while applying mascara. the ensuing disaster is, simply put, disastrous.
i decided to cab to work, no thanks to that nasty humongous blister i got from walking home (can you say H-U-M-O-N-G-O-U-S, it spans the width of my entire toe, from after the nail to 1st joint).
there were 2 cabs, one had the red 'BUSY' sign, followed by another with a green 'AVAILABLE' sign. so i flagged the green one, but the red one stopped. grumpy old man it was, but ok lor, he stop so i hopped on.
we moved off, and a distance down, he suddenly said, '如果要吃糖你自己拿hor?' (there was a big plastic container of burger gummies at the centre rest)
i was like, errrrrrrr. *weird* 谢谢but不用la, 早餐还没有吃不可以吃糖。
and he said, 不要紧， 你可以拿，留晚上吃嘛!
i still politely refused, was kinda taken aback at this point.
then he said, 如果要tissue,也可以拿hor.
me said, wah uncle, then 你的车费也是免费的啊！
he said, har! 那个不可以啦！！！
me went, 我以为全部免费可以拿嘛！开玩笑啦！ But 你的服务很好leh, 很难的！
he replied, wah 你这个女孩很风趣。 可是这是为了答谢你们嘛， 谢谢你们这么自持我，坐我的车。我不可以亏待support 我的人leh.
and so, after i got off the cab, i offered him one of my newly acquired matcha biscuits.
and he charged me 20cents less.
and i walked out happie.
and walked away with many thoughts.
uno: never judge a book by its cover. appearances are deceptive. his actions changed the entire way i view/judged/stereotyped him as a person.
dos: small things matter. a tiny action goes a long way, ppl will remember it. same goes for bad things.
tres: value-addedness. that 'extra' touch. the right-mindedness we need and can work towards.
cuatro: goodness begets goodness, kindness begets kindness. its a never ending cycle of goodwill!
cinco: compliments shld be used more often. when said from the heart, they reinforce the good things tat are innate in you, make you happie, and u'll prob make someone else happie too. wats there not to like about it?
seis: positive thinking and pride in work. customers come in all sorts of shapes sizes and temperaments. his perception of his customers really takes positive thinking to another notch. i'm impressed, i dont tink i can do it.
speaking of ppl who take pride in work, i'm impressed by this kindly old chef at the hawker near my house. his hokkien mee is damn good, for 3bucks you get a mountainful of noodles soaked in yummy prawn broth and you know wat? he bothers to cook the prawns/squid separately from the noodles and carefully arranges them on top of the noodles, then dishing up with 2 types of chilli by the side.
at times like this, i cant help but be selfish, and wish these great chefs (plus the chwee kueh uncle at bukit merah) will 长身不老 so i can enjoy their yummy creations forever!
oh and by the way, another lesson i learnt today - resist ALL urges to sneeze while applying mascara. the ensuing disaster is, simply put, disastrous.
thinking out loud at 10:11 AM
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