Happily picking out Christmas ornaments in Parkson a few days ago, my dad and I came upon a special Christmas wish list from the people in Cheshire Home. Thinking that it won’t hurt to do at least grant one simple wish, I asked if we could buy one of them a little something. He agreed, so we checked through the list and bought two T-shirts.
Two men walked past us at the Customer Service counter and one of them commented to my dad how bothersome it was to have to queue up just to redeem his receipts for points. Typical stranger-to-stranger small talk. I wasn’t paying much attention to him as I filled in the gift tags. The next moment I lifted my eyes, there he was, scratching his entry form at the front of the counter. There were at least 5 other people behind him and he conveniently skipped queuing up just for the sake of being able to scratch his way through the competition ASAP.
What put me off was the attitude of the people there. There we were, trying to get a sales assistant to help us with the gifts, and then there were those people who couldn’t wait for even a few minutes to get to the counter to scratch a piece of pink paper as if it held their family’s future for the next 12 generations. Why can’t they just stand patiently and wait for their turn while the person behind the counter explain to us what we had to do to leave the gifts there?
My point here is simple. Why is it so easy to want to have things for yourself than to give to others? The people lining up there seemed like they would really believe that they could win a Ferrari Enzo if you told them so. They couldn’t contain their anxiousness and wait patiently. Why? Oh, because since they had purchased more than RM80 worth of items, they got the chance to scratch 3 out of 6 boxes in a small slip of paper and if they could get the same alphabet 3 times, they would win something.
It’s shameful how obviously stuck up the people were that day. It just magnified the fact that our society is just too obnoxious to care about others. If every person who waited in that queue donated something, the Charity Tree that the management had set up there would be overflowing right now. There would be so many presents that not only the people in the Cheshire Home would receive Christmas gifts. Or if each one of them were to donate just RM1, every poor child would have a new shirt by Christmas.
It’s just odd how easy it is to stand in line for a chance to win something for oneself than it is to give away something to someone who needs it.
‘Tis the season to be jolly
Two wishes were granted for Christmas. Just knowing that is reason enough to be jolly.
Two men walked past us at the Customer Service counter and one of them commented to my dad how bothersome it was to have to queue up just to redeem his receipts for points. Typical stranger-to-stranger small talk. I wasn’t paying much attention to him as I filled in the gift tags. The next moment I lifted my eyes, there he was, scratching his entry form at the front of the counter. There were at least 5 other people behind him and he conveniently skipped queuing up just for the sake of being able to scratch his way through the competition ASAP.
What put me off was the attitude of the people there. There we were, trying to get a sales assistant to help us with the gifts, and then there were those people who couldn’t wait for even a few minutes to get to the counter to scratch a piece of pink paper as if it held their family’s future for the next 12 generations. Why can’t they just stand patiently and wait for their turn while the person behind the counter explain to us what we had to do to leave the gifts there?
My point here is simple. Why is it so easy to want to have things for yourself than to give to others? The people lining up there seemed like they would really believe that they could win a Ferrari Enzo if you told them so. They couldn’t contain their anxiousness and wait patiently. Why? Oh, because since they had purchased more than RM80 worth of items, they got the chance to scratch 3 out of 6 boxes in a small slip of paper and if they could get the same alphabet 3 times, they would win something.
It’s shameful how obviously stuck up the people were that day. It just magnified the fact that our society is just too obnoxious to care about others. If every person who waited in that queue donated something, the Charity Tree that the management had set up there would be overflowing right now. There would be so many presents that not only the people in the Cheshire Home would receive Christmas gifts. Or if each one of them were to donate just RM1, every poor child would have a new shirt by Christmas.
It’s just odd how easy it is to stand in line for a chance to win something for oneself than it is to give away something to someone who needs it.
‘Tis the season to be jolly
Two wishes were granted for Christmas. Just knowing that is reason enough to be jolly.
1 comment:
A merry Christmas to you too!
*My advice for everything none pleasant*
You should have kicked him :P
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