Amid The Haste

Today, I was in a hurry on my way to my acting audition. Actors are usually a tad more nervous before audition, as they don't know what to expect and also (ironically) their need to remain calm so that it is conducive to remember the lines and get into character. On top of that, I was lugging a camera, a tripod and a spare laptop as part of the logistics for a talk on "Learning Difficulties" that was to start right after the audition in another venue. Rushing and finding my way around for the correct exit in the subway amid the crowd, the tropical heat and humidity was thus very daunting.

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Amid this whirlpool of rush and haste, my phone rang. It was John. John seems to have the habit of ringing at the wrong time and wrong place. What's worse, I could hardly hear him as the signal was poor and he mumbles his words, this despite him being an English language teacher. To make matter worse, John was bidding around the bush as he talked and there wasn't any coherence.

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Frustrated and now even getting angry, I retorted, "John, can you get to the point and get on with what you want to say?!"

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There was a pause of silence. Then John softly replied , "Mike, I just wanted to speak to a Singaporean whom I can relate easily to, to say how lucky and grateful am I to be in Singapore alive and well, as if I had been in Christchurch, where I was born and grew up in, I might have been dead by now or had my house completely destroyed, as one-third of buildings there have been destroyed by the earthquake."

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At that point, it was my turn for the pause of silence. I was embarrassed. Amid the haste, we often forget... Haiz.

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