On the bus

On my way home, with three bags full of school and personal supplies plus the stuff that I had to bring for my private lesson, I was ready to get off the bus. Couldn't wait to get off the cool, air-conditioned bus and walk that short distance home from the bus stop in the disgustingly hot and sticky weather. As I stood up getting ready to get off, an elderly man stood up also and reached out to hold on to one of the poles on the bus. With a slow movement typical of older people, he reached out his hands and put his hands on the hands of an elderly lady who was also holding on to the pole, although she was sitting down. She raised her head and looked at him. I thought she was ready to yell: " YOU PERVERT!!!"(You should've seen my face. It was a really tense split second.)

Instead though, they just looked at each other. For the few minutes we had to stop at the traffic light, they just looked at each other. Not a single word from either one of them. Not a nod. Nothing.

I let them get off first and I watched them walk away from the bus stop.

Suddenly, the thought of my late grandfather just crossed my mind. Not sure why. He wasn't really a touchy feely person. He was a mechanic cum electrician. He wouldn't have passed any quiz you could give him to measure his sensitivity. When he found out that he had cancer, he didn't tell anyone in the family although later on we did anyway. But what he decided to do after he found out is what I find really touching. He tried to make sure my grandma has plenty of supply of this particular type of traditional Chinese show in Teochew, the type that she really liked. It took him a while, but one by one, he managed to score what he needed from his favorite place: the flea market. He decided he needed to make sure my grandma wouldn't have to fight with the grandkids to watch the show, so he went to scour the market for a decent TV, a VCD player and of course the VCDs. It took him a while as he wanted a good bargain, but he managed to get everything together.

Now my grandma lives on those VCDs. Whenever she can get her hands on them, watching the show is the only thing she will be doing all day long. I used to be her favourite, but now she doesn't even want to talk to me anymore.

I miss my grandpa. I wish I had the chance to say good bye to him. But what makes it worse is that I didn't realize I was losing both of them at the same time.