Shit happens....
Shit happens…You know that famous bumper sticker slogan? I used to wonder why people like it so much, or why it made any sense at all. I now know.
In the midst of a last gasp rush to finish my assignment and trying not to pass out due to diarrhea, I get a message from my girlfriend. “I have something to tell you. But I’m too ashamed and guilty to tell you.” Now, whenever anyone receives such a message, they are bound to expect the worst, which is precisely what I did. A few minutes later, she gives me a call to tell me what it was about.
Here it is. She went out with some friends to the departmental store. They walked into this crystal shop that sells fancy ornaments made out of…. mmm….. crystal (duh). Somewhere down the line, she accidentally knocks over one of the shelves, and breaks some of the items…. And as with so many shops in Malaysia, this one had a “Nice to see, nice to hold, once broken, considered sold” policy.
They did not allow her to leave until she paid for the items she broke (accidentally I must add) and now bought. The crystal might have been shattered, but I think her (and my) heart was the one that got broken. This were crystals we are talking about, and my eyes nearly popped out when I heard the sum she had to pay; some three thousand ringgit. That’s the full months salary of an average working adult. A fresh graduate would earn about half that amount. It was money she did not have, and she had to use some I left behind for emergency and some of her brothers money.
She was in pieces when she called. I know she felt extremely bad and kept bashing herself up, and apologized profusely to me. I wasn’t angry at her or anything. It just felt like being pinch and twisted really badly by someone. That kind of money was a lot by any standards, and I would be lying if I said it didn’t hurt. It would be up to me to somehow recover that cash for her to repay her brother. I don’t expect her to pay me back.
I reassured her that it was alright. What happened has happened, and there is no point kicking and fussing. At least it was better than I feared. I feared something had happened to her, or that she might be in some sort of trouble. It was a really big sum to pay, but at least it was just money. I couldn’t imagine what I would do if say, she was admitted into hospital for something. At those times, I think I would gladly pay thousands of cash instead. If the same thing happened to me a few yeas ago, I would have been shaking my fist in the air, asking God “Why me? Why us? Go pick on someone else!”.
As I put the phone down, I was shocked and hurting already, but at least I had a small consolation.
What can I say? Shit happens.
posted by Compulsive Blogger @ 5:59 pm
Comments: 1
