Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Impatience and night turning into day

A few days ago, we went to IKEA and drove home at about 10:30. The highway was extremely busy because it was peak shopping time. Behind us were cars. One car in particular keep on flashing his light and blowing his horn at us. What can we do? The traffic light was red and there were lots of cars in front of us. And then he had a bright idea, he decided to drive on top of the pavement. There are hardly any pedestrians here anyways, so perhaps he thought that the pavement was an extra lane for impatient drivers like him. Just then the lights turned green and it was our turn to move. The impatient car on the pavement however was stuck, because there was a huge cement pillar round the corner and he was stuck behind it. And the rest of us refuse to allow him to cut in.

So much for refusing to stay in queue.

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The inability (or refusal) of the locals to queue is legendary. A friend related to us how one afternoon he was queuing up to buy some food for iftar. Then came two local men, both refusing to queue, both went directly to the front of the queue. So the men in the line asked them why they didn't join the queue like everyone else. The local's answer was, "But I am fasting!" He was indignant that the rest didn't see things from his point of view. But he seemed oblivious to the possibility that everyone else in the queue was fasting too!

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One reason I love it in B@hrain was that when the locals here try to cut the queue there, the locals there refuse to serve them and ask them to join the back of the queue. Somehow they get away with it over here.

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A friend told me how she called the hospital to make an appointment to see a physiotherapist at a local hospital. The operator asked, "Is 1 o'clock Ok ma'am?" "Sure," she replied. And so the operator repeated, "So ma'am you can see Dr X at 1 am on 28th October," and put the phone down.

1 am?? Who makes appointments to see Drs at 1 am? Apparently here they do!

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Another friend related to me how she received a phonecall at 11:45 pm from a hospital confirming her appointment with the Dr the following day. 11:45 pm? Is that considered a decent time to be calling people up?

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Just over a week and hopefully things will turn back to normal.

8 comments:

Sunfloraa said...

Wahahah thanks Ailin. It must be because I am fasting that I am losing my spelling ability hahaha.

dith said...

Yeah, this just reminds me of the time when I did Hajj and umrah. The pushing and shoving. I thought they only do that during tawaf, saiee or melontar. I was shocked when a lady pushed us aside whilst we were negotiating to buy something at the counter. Imagine! Agaknya tak ada istilah 'queue' dalam bahasa Arab kot?

Lollies said...

my God what a culture!

Leen AshBurn said...

And to think I once shouted at an aunty nonya because she cut my queue for a cab in Pudu hehehhe. Kalau I were in your shoes mesti dah carik gadoh big time.

atiza said...

when I'm in my PMS mood, I'll just 'laser' those who cut queues..esp. at the LRT station..most of the time I just let them be...nak terkucil sangat kot..itu yang tak menyempat-nyempat

Unknown said...

sunflora,
it's amzaing isn't how these people play dumb to cut the lines. And I've been noticing these play-dumb-cut-queeu-indidividuals are the loudest whiners and complainers.

madnessinvain said...

If me, i'll whack him off. Verbally of course.

Leyla Shuri said...

Now we know why our Nabi Mohammad saw was sent down to the arabs!
SA, pernah tinggal Jepun kan?
Org Jepun have special teknik to wait and wait and wait!