人情味 (human touch)

Today we brought Cayen to the wet market .. I was just speaking to my father on how people could rent a stall cheaply from the government at a couple hundred bucks when the woman at the next table just chirped in to say that that's not the case. There's hidden costs and it would come up to around 2000 +. While she might be eavesdropping to some extent, I thought she's just trying to be helpful and Kay Poh all at the same time. 

When we were about to leave, I saw a kid in pram coming towards us. I asked Cayen to give a wave and kiss as usual , and after he did so, the kid's grandmother came over to talk. She spoke to us about some weekend when a mother was shaking in fear and almost hysterical when she couldn't find her baby at the market. No one went to help her at all (so heartless??) . Anyway, it turned out to be a false alarm as her friend took the baby away. 

After experiencing these chatty and friendly encounters in the morning, I can't help but feel the difference when we went to town (orchard) in the afternoon. 

Cayen repeated the wave and kiss thing to two sets of kids/parents seated near us. While the kids were enthused, the parents  were not at all friendly. No attempt to chat and not even warm smiles.. Wonder if the more affluent people / younger generation are just more hostile or unfriendly in general. 

My takeaway : you can find human warmth in the  most ordinary and mundane places. Return a smile or make small talk with a stranger every day. It might just make someone's day ! 


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