Manners

It had been a long week and it was only the first week of school. I was thankful for the Monday Youth Day break as I had spent the whole Saturday bringing students to Safra Yishun and going to HQ for the NCC Day parade rehearsal.

I decided to pamper myself by taking a cab home so that I can fill my growling stomach and have sufficient rest before I rushed back to school in the evening.

It was an unusual cab. It is one of those new cabs with plenty of rooms at the back for luggage. I told the uncle that I may not have sufficient money to pay for his cab fare and he waived it aside nonchalently that he would give me a free ride instead.

A bump broke our conversation. Someone had bumped into his cab. To our surprise, the driver did not stop but sped away. That angered the taxi driver and I held on as he gave chase. They drove up the flyover and he sounded his horn at the driver. The man was immaculately dressed in a tie and a suit. He pointed to his watch to signal that he was in a hurry. That was like adding fuel to the fire. The taxi-driver got even more angry.

It was a good ten minutes before the driver realised that the taxi-driver was not going to let him off that he finally stopped his car. Two other ladies, who were also very well-dressed came out of the car. They were apparently dressed for a wedding. They hardly look like those who would hit and run, but definitely flustered as they were obviously in a hurry.

Have our lives become so busy that we no longer have time to stop and say we are sorry? Or maybe we have become so presumptious that we like to belittle other people's problems?

The cab was not badly damaged and suffered just a light scratch. If the driver had stopped to apologise the moment he bumped into the cab, the uncle would have excused him. There would have been no need for this injustice anger and wild chase.