Just My Luck

Finally, I have something to blog about not related to the Police.

This took place last night when I was travelling to my auntie's house while I was on the bus. It was around 8:10pm and I was seated somewhat at front of the bus.

Anyway, what happened was this old man came in 10-15 minutes into the journey and sat down in front of me to my left. He sat about 2 metres at a diagonal direction - so I had a good view of him from my seat because I sat next to the aisle with my bag on the seat beside me.

I took note of this old man because when he came in, I noticed that he waved to somebody out the window, and I thought it was good to know that either he cared for someone to wave that person goodbye or that someone really cared for him enough to make he wanna wave to that person. It was touching to see that.

So we were all happily seated on the bus, minding our own business as I continued to glance out the window at the passing cars and scenery. It was just like any ordinary trip. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was something like routine for me. Hop on the bus, and sit on it for 40 minutes or so then go up to my auntie's place. That was pretty normal.

What wasn't normal is the incident I am about to tell you guys. In a way, I felt proud to be able to do something like this. Not just because I am a police officer now but rather because it's things like this that make this world a less stressful place to live in. There would have been consequences if I didn't do what I did on that bus.

This was what happened. After that old man sat on the bus for 15 minutes or so, he decided to alight. He, and this other guy across him (who was seated directly in front of me) alighted together with the other guy getting off first. When that other guy left, there was no body else in front of me which meant I was closest and probably the only person who witnessed what happened.
While the old man tapped his bus card onto the EZ Link Pad (technology reigns supreme here in Singapore. Everything is electronic :P), he must have somehow clipped his watch onto one of the metal railings as it fell off his hand. As I sat there and watched, I waited to see if the old man would bend down to pick it up, but unsurprisingly, he didn't. He simply proceeded through the doors and out of the bus.

So there I was - probably the only person who saw what happened was left with two decisions; sit there and ignore the watch as this old man continued with his life not knowing where he left his watch which he will probably never see again, or I could leap out of my seat, leaving my bag behind to return the watch to the old man.

Now the question is, what would any of us do. It would be so much easier to just leave his watch lying on the floor because it's not mine and I don't see why I should care about it. It really is as simple as that. When it actually happens in real life, that is most definitely the easiest most 'safest' thing to do. I mean after all, there are a whole bunch of other people on the bus too. One step out of your seat, and everyone will be watching you.

It really took me a lot of courage and dignity to do what I did because I jumped out of my seat and went for the watch. I mustered my strength to bend down to scoop up the watch, because remember my legs were still very sore, but what was really more important was returning this watch to the old man before it was too late. So I picked up the watch and as I did, I told the Indian bus driver to wait.
Actually, it was more something like this: "Wait wait wait!" In many South East Asian countries, people like to emphasise an action with use of three repetitive verbs. For example, 'Go go go', 'Eat eat eat', 'Sleep sleep sleep'. In this case, I had to 'cater' for the locals and also, with the short opportunity I had left to return the watch, those three words would have had to do. It would be a lot easier and faster if I said that than something grammatically correct like, "Could you please wait for me as I return this watch to that old man who has just left the bus?"
So yeah, you get the point.

Plus, I think the bus driver saw me pick up the watch and understood the situation because when I flew through the bus door, I began shouting out 'Uncle! Uncle!' But once again, unsurprisingly, he could not hear me. He only realised that I was trying to get his attention when I tapped him on the shoulder as I presented him with the watch saying in chinese, "This is yours". Right after I said that, I was struck with the realisation that my bag was left on the bus unprotected and the fear of the bus driver shutting the door and driving off. So I quickly took a very quick glance at the old man before I rushed back into the bus - not only to protect my belongings but also for the bus so that people on the bus can be held stationary no more.

When I walked back into the bus and into my seat, I felt really proud. I really did a good deed by returning this old man's watch and I felt good. If I had not returned his watch, the bus would have gone off back to the interchange and the bus driver would have placed the watch under lost and found. Sadly, I don't think the old man would have known he lost it on the bus because he could think he might have dropped it on the streets or some other place. Also, retrieving lost items on public transport might be a bit difficult and strenuous.

In all, it was great. I don't know who else on the bus saw what happened but that didn't really matter. I don't really care who saw it. All that I cared about was that the old man got his watch back while I could do something about it.

What's strange was that I sat at the front of the bus. On normal occasions, I would be seated somewhere in the middle or back of the bus. Hardly ever at the front when I'm by myself. Somehow, I was 'forced' to take that seat because that was the only available double seat on the bus from first glance at the front.
What's even more strange is that usually that bus is quite often a double decker bus. And most of the time, I would be seated upstairs. Whereas yesterday, it was a normal single decker bus.

What are the odds of something like that happening?