Thursday, May 21, 2009

In God we trust, In Humanity we believe


I dont remember whether Ive ever post this story before, but I hope people enjoy it. I heard this story somewhere, its not mine, but since i dont remember where I read it, Im gonna re-tell it likes it mine. Again I repeat, this is not my story ok?

If you live in Kuala Lumpur, you are bound to have a split personality. In one hand, you are that mild-mannered, smiling, cheerful person that everyone loves at the office. The other is the horn honking, cursing, angry car driver stuck in a traffic jam after office hours. My dad used to say that people in KL become "samsengs" when they drive but are decent human beings if they dont have a car in KL.

Working in KL I have witnessed this "transformation". I have seen office mates turning into road devils screaming down the highway and Ive seen total strangers arguing from the window of their car. Then one day, something happened. It is a well undocumented rule that if you're crossing the road while the lights are turning green, youre bound to get a honking and an earful of curses. So one day while being the first car in front of a traffic light. Watching a blind man slowly walk across the road, i thought to myself "Uh-oh he's gonna get some.." As the lights turned green the man was still in the middle of the road and all the honking got him disoriented. he was now right in the middle of the junction halting traffic from all directions and then suddenly, as if an angel had blew into the hearts of many, a revelation, everyone went quiet.

All eyes fixed on the blind man, struggling to find his way to the other side. The honking had stopped, the cursing had stopped. It was so quiet. It was so quiet that you fear, that kind of quiet might be forever, and it scared you. Then suddenly a voice shouted.

"Pakcik, Jangan jalan, and paling kanan" He did as he was told.
"Ok Pakcik Jalan straight dalam sepuluh tapak..." A female voice this time.
"Hati hati pakcik, ada lubang tengah jalan tu.. jaga jatuh..." another said
"Sikit lagi pakcik, nak sampai dah tu.." yet another voice
"tebing tu tinggi skit pakcik, hati-hati.." and the final voice.

The Pakcik got to the other side of the road safely and the line moved.

We are living today in a society that has no moral absolutes. Everyday is colored by a gray area. Good and bad are almost always the same. And even when there are morale absolutes, these black and white days almost always come with a body count. But that day, it was white. Everyone i think that day went home from that little event feeling that in all the hustle and bustle of city life, sometimes, more often than not, humanity will triumph, chivalry will triumph. If we only stopped and consider the situations, we'll probably be more inclined to do good, then to look away.

4 comments:

Maneesa said...

this is true!
i even experience it once when crossing the road and this taxi driver was driving so fast that didn't even bother there's people crossing the road.I had to run to be safe and the taxi driver even give me that STARE as if i was at fault.
Not to mention when car won't even bother to stop when they are suppose to especially when there's pedestrian walk signage ahead.

youramoi said...

wow...
never seen it before in kl
malaikat lalu kot ;)

me said...

Agreed. Same thing in KK, whenever I'm behind the wheel, rude drivers automatically become my enemies. I wonder if there's any 'blindman-story' here...

Hanafee said...

Maneesa - Change has to come from us... so how would you react to it?? Remember a positive reaction will get a positive counter reaction!!!!

Manje - If youve had the luck to be a part of it.... you should share hehehe

Mel - Kota Kinabalu!!!! waaa I miss KK!!!!!