“Noodles, having here please.” Ordering my breakfast; and then heading to my favourite table (seat). The one with nice view where I can see the whole view of little flea market at ground floor.
It is very common to share table with other diners, especially on weekends. Crowded is norm. Today, I join table with an old couple, around their 80s, I guess. A pair of loving couples they are, the husband is waiting for his wife then only he would go getting his breakfast. There she is, with a food tray in her hands. Her husband quickly stands up and goes taking over the food tray from her. They slowly walk back to the table. After making sure his wife has properly seated, he then goes to buy his breakfast meal.
Sitting opposite to her, I can see her action within my views. I don’t have to look at her directly, they just come within my vision. She brings out a small container in cylinder shape from her flowery-sewed fabric handbag. Open it and she then pour some onto her stir-fried noodle.
(Hmm?!? What’s that? What had she just added into her meal?) My curiosity ignites. I shift my eye vision a little closer to where she is (still not looking at her directly).
(Some hard-built cubes in white colour…) (Nothing that’s soft from the desserts or side dishes; not any food seasoning as well. What are those then?) Inspector’s mindset starts observing her plate of meal.
(…) Speechless.
(Oh… Looks like medicine pills that have been broken or cut into small quarters.) I was stunt by what I just realize.
“苦中作乐” (pin yin pronounce as Ku Zhong Zuo Le) in mandarin could well-described her action. It carries a meaning of “trying to find some funs from difficult situation”.
By adding those pills into that yummy breakfast of hers; camouflage away the bitterness in those no-choice-but-have-to-eat medicine pills. She is trying her very best to lighten the bitter-taste and hard-to-swallow pill brings.
(She must be a positive-thinking person… A cheerful one who is able to look for the bright side of her aging life that is currently packaged with some sickness.) I think to myself.
She seems a little uneasy as she keeps looking my way, to check if I noticed her weird actions. I act as if I didn’t see nothing, letting my vision lose focus and look far away behind her back. Continue listening to the music I play from my mobile phone and sipping my coffee.
She picks up the noodles with a cube of pill in between, with her chopsticks and eats them in one go. Slowing eating them. Her husband is back with his meal now. They both eating and chatting softly, to one another.
(Lovely couple…) I envy. Wearing a light smile on my face; I divert my vision looking at the flea market downstairs.
This encounter brings me back to the meeting I had with my colleague last Thursday. We faced some work issue that day. Five of us gathered in the meeting room, brainstorm, consider all sort of possible solutions that we have to handle the task. Half an hour passed; everyone is cracking their brain to give a thorough consideration on each solution and consequences each might leads to.
James, the sales person, crack a joke at this very moment. His action didn’t get through to all colleagues. Some of them gave him expressionless look, some even rolled their eyes. I joined his joke and chuckled a little. I can laugh at small jokes.
Looking at my other colleagues; they might find James not being serious at work and keeps joking around. From what I see, James was just trying to bring some funs to the dull yet stressful working life. Like just now, he just said a rather lame joke, trying to lighten the heaviness in the meeting room, among the colleagues. Each of us has been thinking hard to solve the issues face, for the past half-an hour now. A short break or relax is really in need. But no one realizes that themselves.
I appreciate James’ kind act. And I too, added in another funny topic and shared with my colleagues. How they think? I don’t really care. My intention is simple, let’s have our serious minds take a 1-minute break, have a little laugh to bring in more oxygen to our body and blood circulation. Win-win situations, at least, to me.
Time to go. I bring my food tray and leave the old
couples at the table. Slowly, I walk back home.
The next day, Sunday, I go to have my breakdown at the same hawker centre. (Wow, more crowded than yesterday.) I look for a seat that I could join in, still from my preferred row of tables, with nice view.
Alright, I join a table of four, one auntie and two middle-aged men. I enjoy my Indian food, masala tosai, that comes with some curry. (Yummy! As usual.) I like it.
One of the diners, he puts down his food tray, reaches his pocket to bring out something before he sits down onto the cement seat. I thought he was going to bring out his mobile phone but it was a plastic case with 4 small caps.
(Oh… It’s a medicine pill container. Each section has different coloured pills.) This is beyond my expectation, for a middle-aged man to carry along even to his breakfast time. Mobile phone or wallet is what one would usually takes out from their pants’ pocket before sitting down. It’s not comfortable to sit down with these items still in the pockets, be it front pocket or the back ones.
That’s life, human does age. No one can stop the time from ticking. Sickness hit anyone, irrespective of age, gender, education one has, or the wealth one has accumulated. There might be a time where we have carrying along the medicine pills as well, carrying them anywhere we go…
(Let’s go for brisk walk this evening.) I change my Sunday plans a little, to do some exercise instead. A healthier body is important, at least for me to have a rather relax and easy ageing life later on.
No need to eat my meal with bitter-taste pills; no need to carry along medicine case in my pocket, on each of my long-waited weekends. Blessed.
