B.L.U.R (Episode 1 - Transportation)

"The eyes are useless when the mind is blind." 

                                                                                                                                

I am not sure how many of us have started losing our mind after 3 weeks of MCO (Movement Control Order) here in Malaysia.

During this period, most if not all of our routines have to be rescheduled and/or are compromised. It is not surprising, then, to catch ourselves spacing out occasionally.

Nonetheless, MCO or not, we have all had our episodes of being BLUR, or being absent-minded at some point in our lives.

I revisited one of my 2014 blog posts about wardrobe malfunction and I thought, hey, why not record an entry on transportation blunders this time round? Maybe, just maybe, the next few minutes of MCO might then become slightly more bearable after you have laughed at all these embarrassing, but true stories. 

Have you ever mistaken someone else's car as your own? After all, it could have been the same model, the same colour, and even almost the same car plate.

Apparently, that was what my father had done at the carpark of Alamanda Shopping Centre in Putrajaya, many years ago. To cut him some slack, Dad has been diagnosed with glaucoma for more than 2 decades now and his eyesight has been failing. But one thing that faileth not is his level of confidence, or ignorance (which can sometimes drive us really, really mad, if you know what I mean...).

My mother and my brother were already in the car, waiting for Dad when they caught him striding confidently towards what he assumed was my brother's car back then: a black Proton Wira. It was parked just next to my brother's car. As both of them observed Dad through the windows, they too had confidently assumed that he would surely not be able to open the car door or get into that car anyway and would therefore know that it was the wrong car, even though the two cars may have looked very similar. Alas, how their jaw dropped when he was not only able to open the car door, but to actually get in and comfortably take his seat!

Tell me, what were the odds that a random driver, who drove the same car as my brother, would have coincidentally left his car unlocked in that parking lot, only to let my Dad 'break in', albeit unintentionally?!! He sat in the car for a while before realising that my brother and my mom were laughing hysterically from the car next door.

Not too long ago, I dropped my parents off at the hospital for their routine check-up. Instead of parking at the hospital and waiting with them, I would usually take a walk in the park or hang around nearby to wait for their phone call. Not long after calling me, my mom (the other half with the supposedly better eyesight) saw a silver Perodua Myvi approaching and thought I had arrived. As she tried to open the car door, two other young girls rushed towards the Myvi and explained to my mom that it was their Grab ride, and not hers.

I am sure my parents are not exclusive in this.

I recall a teacher back in secondary school who confessed that she once entered into the wrong car while waiting for her husband to pick her up from work. She thought the car looked familiar, so when it pulled up, she automatically opened the door and got in. When the driver refused to drive away, she turned to look at him and asked, "What are you waiting for?" Imagine her embarrassment and horror when she eventually realized that the driver wasn't her husband at all!

Looks like there are already three embarrassing stories, and I have only touched on the topic of getting into the wrong car. What about other modes of transportation, you ask? Let's see how the humble public bus can teach us a lesson or two on humility.

Because we lived far in the suburbs but studied right in the heart of town, it was never easy for my brother and I to catch the public transport after school, unless we took the KL-Kajang bus or even the KL-Seremban bus and walked from the main highway to the housing estate. On the way home from school one day, my brother overslept and found himself in Kajang. I was on the verge of calling my parents to let them know that perhaps something bad had happened to him since he was taking much longer than usual, when the house phone rang and I heard his voice over the public phone, sheepishly explaining the blunder. Well, at least that was still much better than waking up in Seremban town!

This is City Liner no. 843, the most difficult bus to catch. I am surprised I managed to steal this image from the Internet.

A classmate, J, was telling our group how she had seen her mini bus coming from afar, but had subconsciously joined the queue for another bus which was already in the midst of picking up passengers from the bus stop. Since the interior of all mini buses looked alike, she had not suspected anything amiss at first. After a while, it slowly dawned on her that the bus was taking a different route altogether. Needless to say, she had to get off the bus prematurely. I can still recall how we guffawed at her tale while we were in the classroom that day. It had seemed really silly and careless even though it was a classic, typical error in eye-foot coordination.

"What goes around comes around." 

I learned the above lesson the following day when another classmate, C, quietly confided in me that she herself had taken the wrong bus that afternoon immediately after laughing at J's story. She had also seen her bus coming from afar but had somehow gotten into the wrong bus. Luckily for her, though, the bus was going in the same direction as her home, just not close enough. She decided to get off and walk all the way home under the scorching sun, more to save herself from the embarrassment than to save her bus fare. How could she recount the tale to others after having laughed so loudly the day before?

I didn't dare laugh at her story after that. You see, I still had my own bus to catch that afternoon, too.

But I guess one of the most embarrassing bus episodes happened to my friend's mom.

Here is an obvious, yet unwritten rule: if you are someone who normally drives to your destination and enjoys the comfort of your own vehicle, you will find it very awkward to switch to public transport. Not only do you need to study which bus/train to take, which interchange to get down at, and how to make payment (trust me, it can be rocket science to some people), you will also quickly need to master the art of maintaining your center of gravity while the bus driver takes you on a roller-coaster ride. Rid yourselves of romantic bus scenes where the male lead towers protectively over the female lead and catches her the moment she loses her balance. In reality, there is just no one to catch you if you fall.

My friend's mother found herself in one such predicament when she had to take the public bus one day. Just as the driver was taking a corner, or jamming on the brakes, she felt her balance suddenly dissipating from her body, so she quickly wrapped her fingers around a cold, stainless steel pole near her. Strangely enough, the pole did not provide the support she had anticipated. In fact, it was swaying along with her! She turned to look at it again and as her eyes traced the end of that 'pole', she realised that she was actually not holding onto the sturdy pole in the middle of the bus, but was clutching steadfastly on to another passenger's crutches! No wonder it had kept moving about...

I cannot recall if she had accidentally sat on any passengers that day. But my friend told me that her mom was extremely apologetic to the passenger with the crutches. Good thing she was not a regular passenger on the bus. It would have been quite embarrassing to bump into the same person (or anyone else in the bus that day) ever again.

I actually do have many other embarrassing stories, specifically regarding drivers and their own vehicles but perhaps, in the same way food is rationed during MCO, I should also ration my stories and save it for the next entry.

In the meantime, I hope you were somewhat entertained.

Stay at home, stay safe, and most importantly, stay SANE!