Saturday, August 25, 2007

Against Instinct

Should have followed my gut feeling, should have listened to my instinct.

This morning after sending my wife to her class I drop by a relatives house, sort of a post umrah visit - going against my instinct which kept prodding me not to. The kind of uneasy feeling that came when you are about to go somewhere or do something. The little voice that never speaks but just let you feel. Anyway, looking back it was just a trivial matter which somehow upsets me greatly.

I arrived and proceeded to manoeuvre my car in the tight and only available parking spot on the road in front of the house. As I was carefully doing it - wife's new car - I was honked at aggressively. It was my relative. My first thought was that perhaps he did not recognise the new car and was angry that someone is taking his spot. I planned to laugh with him about it once I parked the car but his honking became incessant and his approach aggressive. I rolled down the window, poked out my head and waved at him. He did not back up so thinking that perhaps there's something wrong with the spot, I moved on up the street, made a U-turn and as I passed him - already parked in the spot, he pointed towards a tight space on the opposite side of the road. That space will not be long enough for my MPV but will fit his 2 door car. I moved further down the road and stopped right before the junction, at which point, I decided that perhaps its better to listen to my instinct and just left. It was raining, I have kids in the car and my cordial mood is gone.

Two things bothered me, first, its not so much about the parking spot but the fact that as a potential guest, I was treated badly. Second and most importantly, I am angry at myself for taking it for granted that I will be accorded some sort of special treatment just because if it was me, I will make sure my guest can access my house as easy as possible - including giving up my parking spot to them. Well, there's always new things to learn and discover, I suppose.

On the way home, the relative - his wife - called asking why I left. I said, the car is parked too far, it was raining and maybe I'll come by next time. Yeah right...

10 comments:

J.T. said...

I apologise for using your relative as an example but I think this is one of the reasons why our society is the way it is today. There is very little tolerance and people do not give in much these days (even for a little inconvenience) to create a more harmonious atmosphere.

Such action leads to a reaction and soon the cordial mood is gone (as you said).

Unknown said...

Whooohooo...ada jugak yang macam tu ke? Lepas tu boleh lak 'selamba' tak wife you apasal you balik...hello...hello... anybody in there *brain lah*...

That's a bad character of our society...you see, to fight over parking space or don't want to compromise...my goddd...tak tau nak kata weh!

Unknown said...

Ada jugak sedara yg macam ni ek?

den said...

senang kalau hari tu yg nak jumpa tu pak den...siap dgn payung wa cakap lu!

eeeerr...ahem...jeram apa citer?

Apandi said...

Tak tahulah apa nak kata but perhaps it was all a misunderstanding, perhaps I was being overly sensitive. Anyway, I learned.

Jeram ? Jom...

Unknown said...

Capt. sejak balik Mekah ni... err.. do feel different? Are you becoming more religious? Are you more forgiving than before? What about your level of patience? Are you the same person you used to be?

Apandi said...

Lan, Mekah does not change who you are, at the most it will show you who you are. Changes are for you to make. I am still the same person albeit a bit more kilos and stubble for hair. Lets go and eat and we can discuss this further...

Unknown said...

Jeram here we come!

Anonymous said...

Rambut sama hitam, hati lain-lain..
We meet people with different thinking and attitude all the time.

But one thing i can't explain: Why after bumping into such people all the time, i keep on expecting others to have same thinking and attitude as mine?
Am i too 'bengap' to learn my lesson? Or, am i too self-centered?

Apandi said...

lan, ko cakap jerrr... bila nak pick me up to Jeram ?

dee, no lah, its just that you comsume too much seafood, the contents of which is affecting of grey matter...