the tissue paper lady...

I don't usually buy tissue paper from the tissue peddlars at hawker centres or along the roads because there are just too many elderly people doing that along the streets of orchard road and like most people, I just normally shake my head and say no.

However, I buy tissue packets from one particular elderly couple once in a while on my way to work in the morning. This couple is there every morning, rain or shine, right in front of the rolex building. The wife, I presume, will always cry out: "tissue paper one dollar, tissue paper one dollar" while her husband, stick thin, leans on a wooden crutch and stretches his frail arms in hope that some passer-by will approach him and buy his tissue packets. I must say I always feel my heart wrenching every day I see this old couple. On a few occassions, I wanted to find out what their story is...why do they do that every morning? Don't they have children? Why do they have to sell tissue papers every morning? Why..why..why.. but I never pluck up the courage to approach them and speak with them. Why?

This evening, met up Mr. Goh to have dinner at clementi. Both of us have tonnes of work-complaints. my china colleague is testing his limit with me EVERYDAY. I can just imagine spewing blood onto his face one of these days. Anyway...i digressed...
This really old lady... think maybe in her 70s.. came by our table with tissue packets and we bought the tissue packets from her. She was selling them 3 for $1 but we gave her $2 and she was kind enough to let us know again that it is just $1. Other tissue peddlers may have just taken the money and kept it, I don't know. Maybe cos she's an elderly lady, not man... maybe cos she looked kind and grand-motherly, maybe she doesn't give me the feeling that she's pushing us to buy the packets from her... maybe.. a lot of maybes which led me to want to buy it from her.

But the thing that really made me really upset was when I saw her going to the other table and upon seeing the leftover foods, took out a plastic bag from her bag and started to fill it with the leftover foods. Carefully, she used the chopsticks and filled up her plastic bag. I cannot imagine my grandmother, or anybody's grandmother, to be doing that every night. why? Where have her children gone? Or is she living alone? Is this the result of her not working hard enough when she was young? Or was she abandoned by her children cos she's too old and troublesome to take care of. lotsa questions ran through my head... One man's trash is another's treasure. Is this her fate?

Sigh, what a blue monday. and what a timely reminder for myself to count my blessings and cherish everyone, everything I have today.