a lesson

hey people, this is something which i think i should post as, well, it's worth posting, just read through. today, around 11, my mum, bro n i went for "brunch", for those who don't get it, it's lunch+breakfast. haha, sorry, not trying to make you feel dumb, hahaha, seriously, i'm not.

Then, as i was sneezing, this guy with a bag full of "premier" tissues came and showed 2 packets to my mom, so she just took out 2 bucks and exchanged it for the 2 packets of tissue. Okay, fine, quite expensive for 2 packets of tissue, i thought but nevermind, i bet he needs it more than us.
What suprised me was that, my mum, asked him whether he had eaten, and offered to buy him lunch. okay, there i was puzzled, first, i thought:
1. how do you know he can't afford lunch?
2. mum, why are you being extra generous to this guy selling tissue?

So she went to order roti canai with filling for him and told him to sit down and eat when the food arrives. Then, he asked whether could takeaway, then my mum said it was okay. Then, i think he went around selling tissues cause he left for quite some time.So my brother and I were asking her why she was being so kind and generous(as in, more than usual) today.

"It's thanksgiving."I thought of turkeys and all, haha, and then we talked about thanksgiving for a while but my brother insisted that she didn't have to chia him but instead just pass him money and he'd buy whatever he wants.

"Sidney, and Shannon, have I ever told you that your grandpa(dad's) sold eggs everyday when he was 11, 12, 13 and so on?"(we nodded)"He went around houses selling eggs and he made one cent for every egg he sold.(1 cent last time during my gp's time was quite big)The money he earned would be used for groceries and meat for that day's meals, he had 8 or so siblings and if he didn't earn enough money, they'd just eat canned chai sin with rice. He'd usually earn more than a dollar or so which is enough for meat with vege for his family."

"Your grandpa was a student of St. Thomas' and they had built new toilets. The students had to pay a cent for every visit and after 2 weeks, your gp left school because he refused to pay 1 cent for every new toilet visit, and either tried to hold his urine or visit the old, dirty toilets. He didn't rela pay that money and thought that it'd be better to use it for food for his big family, he was laughed and teased by classmates(late teens already) and so he left school, don't look down on him as that time he could read, speak and write proper English."
Maybe 1 cent at that time was really really big but wow, what a shock, leaving school for 1 cent each day?My mum continued saying an old late family friend always remembered my gp for his trifty and spendthrift attitude, since young, as he was a teacher at that school and realized that my gp as a student never, or at least tried his hardest not to pay for the toilet visits..

My mum, siblings and parents didn't live a rich life, but instead perhaps what we consider moderate or poor. My gp(mum's) owned a small car and almost everyday to pri. sch, my mom with her elder sister(2 out of 4 only as their much older and the 2 younger siblings were still small) would push the car to get the engine running again. My gp then had another car after selling the previous car but the "new one" was 2nd hand as well, not long after the purchase they still had to do the same.

My mum asked whether we had every heard her dad, our gp talk about having been to many houses in Bampfylde area cause he was painting their walls for RM 5 a day, he would bring a huge tengkat with as much rice as possible and another container above it for the vege, packed by his mum. My mum said, if she could, she would like us to experience what, well, moderate or poor families eat as meals for a few days or perhaps a week, so that we could experience, understand and most importantly be grateful.

I was thinking about what my mum was saying and, she was right, compare our lives now to the generations above us, think about it, aren't our lives better now?

Tell me, how many of us has ever washed our own shoes?How many of us wash the dishes after meals on a DAILY BASIS?How many of us do chores, have only hand-me-downs, eat plain rice and vege only for meals?My point is that now, children nowadays, all of us, yes including me definitely, take many things for granted..What do you think?Are you the ones I'm refering to, if you are, then join the club, and hopefully we'll get out of it soon too.

Lesson for the day:
be grateful and thankful for what we are..
And not be spoilt brats..



Face reality guys.

Shannon, finishing another post.