Had a nice morning.. went to Toa Payoh library to photocopy some stuff, and in the library, as in many places in Singapore, the photocopy machine uses cashcards.
When I was in the middle of photocopying, a lady came and looked around, and apparently she did not know how the machines work. Since she didn't have any cashcard, she asked my help to photocopy some pages. Well, no problem. I've been a recipient of people's help so many times so I guess it's my turn to do some helping. She ended up insisting that she should pay me eventhough I kept refusing. And she gave me more than was needed. *Look, I really did try to refuse, alright..* Then we had a chat and it turned out she had a small juice bar so she asked me to come so that she can treat me a drink...
All well and good...After saying I'd drop by and thinking what stroke of good luck I have, I continued my photocopying...Some minutes later, 2 schoolgirls came and apparently they've never photocopied in the library also, cuz one of them was holding cash and looking confused. Oh well, now I can use the money given to me to do some more good...So I helped them photocopy their stuff, and in the middle of doing it, another lady came to the photocopy room... I handed the photocopies to the girls and assured them that no, I don't need payment, then I turned to the other lady who obviously did not know about cashcards also since she stood there looking at me, a bit confused. Why stop at helping 3 people, right? So I asked her to give me the pages and said I'll help her...She said, "Oh, thanks a lot! So do you work here?" "Uhm..no, actually..." After I'm done photocopying her stuff, she wanted to pay me also,more than the actual price....insisted that I must receive the cash since I've been very helpful *I'm not being very humble here, am I..*. We chatted for a while too..she just arrived from the USA *I thought she was from China..huhu..* and she told me that in the USA you don't have to pay for photocopies in the library...Wow! Singapore should emulate that! ;p
Anyway after all that...I continued my photocopying, while idly thinking away..and then I realised that, after helping 4 people photocopy their stuff, I felt happy for helping, got a free drink invitation, and still ended up making some *unintended* monetary profit! Hm.... Now if that's the way kindness works everytime, I'm sure Singapore doesn't need a "Be Gracious" campaign or whatever..
Hm... it's funny, really...Singaporeans often joke, jibe or complain and self-deprecatingly admit that theirs is an apathetic,kiasu *scared-to-lose* society, but after living here for so long, I came to think that the veneer of a cold, impersonal, don't-bother-me-I'm-zipping-thru-life attitude in this society is just that: a veneer. And beneath, one finds that there are kindness to be had, after all.. That given the chance people still practice not what's profitable, but what's commendable.
Even if the commendable turns profitable, sometimes... Should I set up shop as a photocopy assistant in Toa Payoh library?
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