Strangers and the Random Axe of Kindness
Jan. 7th, 2007 02:49 pmLately I've been getting friendly with drivers of various means of transport. First there was the bus driver who I saw several times a week. It just seemed so stupid not to ackowledge someone who I see more often than some of my really good friends. And then from the acknowledgement came the inevitable small talk. After that there was the other bus driver, who I see once a week when I walk down to Bondi Beach on a Sunday morning. He's aggressively chatty and doesn't seem very bright, nice enough but not the kind of guy I actually want to talk to. But talk we do, because I'm not assertive enough or rude enough to find a way to stop him talking to me.
And then there was the taxi driver, which brings me to my primary topic, the Random Axe of Kindness. The story goes that it was 1am and I was in Willoughby, with no method of transport to get home but to call a taxi. I was insanely keyed up, having just spent the last 4 hours or so singing karaoke with a bunch of my and Vincent's friends. Being keyed up meant that I was much friendlier and chattier than normal (most of my taxi rides pass in awkward silence, or at best awkward small talk). So we're driving along and chatting about how parents need to take more responsibility for their kids when we pull up next to Hyde Park. First thing I notice as we approach is that the bus I need to catch is at the bus stop. I tell the taxi driver this and he immediately offers to reduce the fee for me so that I don't have to fumble around for change. I give him more than he needs, tell him to keep the change and leap out of the taxi. As I do so the bus pulls away. Damn. So I turn around and the driver gives me my change and starts to drive off. Stops a few metres later. Tells me to get back in, he'll drive me to the next bus stop so I won't have to wait around for the next bus. And that was what we did.
That was a couple of weeks ago.
On Friday I went to Manly with Ali, Hein, Danny and Thanda. Driving into the carpark, we were hailed by the sight of a car parked on the opposite side of the road with a hand frantically waving a piece of paper at us. Said hand belonged to a woman who was on the way out and wanted to donate her paid parking, which was good for another 3 hours or so.
Who the hell goes so far out of their way to help complete strangers? This woman was actively waiting by the side of the road for someone to give the ticket to so they wouldn't have to pay for their own parking. Not only that, when we stopped she got out of the car and came over to us to hand it over (we were too busy going what the hell is that woman doing to go over there first :p)
It's almost enough to give me faith in humanity.
PS: I apologise for the title of this post, while I was downstairs eating it leapt into my head and refused to be dismissed
PPS: On our way out of the beach the ticket was still good for another 45 minutes until the parking stopped being paid parking, so we followed suit and donated our ticket to a random European gentleman who was just coming in. Then we speculated about whether the woman who gave us the ticket received it in the same manner
And then there was the taxi driver, which brings me to my primary topic, the Random Axe of Kindness. The story goes that it was 1am and I was in Willoughby, with no method of transport to get home but to call a taxi. I was insanely keyed up, having just spent the last 4 hours or so singing karaoke with a bunch of my and Vincent's friends. Being keyed up meant that I was much friendlier and chattier than normal (most of my taxi rides pass in awkward silence, or at best awkward small talk). So we're driving along and chatting about how parents need to take more responsibility for their kids when we pull up next to Hyde Park. First thing I notice as we approach is that the bus I need to catch is at the bus stop. I tell the taxi driver this and he immediately offers to reduce the fee for me so that I don't have to fumble around for change. I give him more than he needs, tell him to keep the change and leap out of the taxi. As I do so the bus pulls away. Damn. So I turn around and the driver gives me my change and starts to drive off. Stops a few metres later. Tells me to get back in, he'll drive me to the next bus stop so I won't have to wait around for the next bus. And that was what we did.
That was a couple of weeks ago.
On Friday I went to Manly with Ali, Hein, Danny and Thanda. Driving into the carpark, we were hailed by the sight of a car parked on the opposite side of the road with a hand frantically waving a piece of paper at us. Said hand belonged to a woman who was on the way out and wanted to donate her paid parking, which was good for another 3 hours or so.
Who the hell goes so far out of their way to help complete strangers? This woman was actively waiting by the side of the road for someone to give the ticket to so they wouldn't have to pay for their own parking. Not only that, when we stopped she got out of the car and came over to us to hand it over (we were too busy going what the hell is that woman doing to go over there first :p)
It's almost enough to give me faith in humanity.
PS: I apologise for the title of this post, while I was downstairs eating it leapt into my head and refused to be dismissed
PPS: On our way out of the beach the ticket was still good for another 45 minutes until the parking stopped being paid parking, so we followed suit and donated our ticket to a random European gentleman who was just coming in. Then we speculated about whether the woman who gave us the ticket received it in the same manner
Keepin' busy
Sep. 22nd, 2006 08:48 pm1. Shana Tova! (That's Happy New Year to all you non-Hebrew-knowing folks)
2. What have I been up to all this time you ask? Well.. working mostly. That and assignments and Revue Front of House. I wish I had some coworkers who weren't the Indian equivalent of fobs though. On Thursday I had to train up 2 new guys from Bangladesh, which puts the ratio of Indian males to white females 3:1. And none of the new guys say more than 3 words at a time to me, not that that matters since its so hard to understand what they're saying anyway. My original coworker and I have reached a friendship of sorts, where we can understand eachother 80% of the time and actually talk to eachother every now and then. Here's to hoping I get to the same level with the new guys eventually, or maybe even become friendly with them *gasp*
3.But in between that, I went to Mia's 23rd birthday two weeks ago, where I ate copious amounts of food, failed at Guitar Hero, sang along (badly) to Singstar.. in short, great fun was had. I only knew a few of the people there, the rest were Mia's friends relatives and friends of relatives, but they were a pretty friendly bunch altogether. I also got to marvel at David's GPS on the way home, which is an incredibly cool gadget and reminds me of how much of a nerd I am, drooling over a piece of electronics that speaks to tell you to take the next right turn.
4. I saw CSE Revue on Wednesday, and it was so awesome that I decided it deserves a numbered paragraph all to itself. Things that were awesome about it included the band number, the set, the nerd humour, the glowsticks, and the band number. Did I mention the band number was awesome?
5. Today I decided to finally put my money where my mouth is. In the past I have been heard to express sentiments such as "If I had the money I would buy it instead of downloading or getting it off friends", and so now that I'm Officially Rich* I went to JB Hi Fi today and picked up 3 CDs to start my collection of legitimate music. Yay!
6a. Today I and some others formed a group for Software Project Management. We needed a group name and no one could think of anything clever off the top of their head. So I suggested the name of the piece of music that was playing on loop inside my skull at the time. Our group is now named Stream of Consciousness** :D And as I type this I can still hear it playing right now inside my head.
6b. I think CSE Revue has finally gotten to me, judging by my joke tonight at the dinner table which I like to think was worthy of Alex Mednis***
*TV playing in background*
Mum: Didn't we see the news already? Oh, its just.. Lateline? No, Stateline.
Me: Bah its all so confusing, Lateline, Stateline, Dateline. And when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was on they had the option of Mateline.
Needless to say, no one laughed.
*Officially Rich: Earning a decent amount of money on a permanent basis, and having a large-ish amount sitting in the bank account... well, a large-ish amount minus $50 after my CD purchases.
** For those not in the know, Stream of Consciousness is the name of the CSE Revue band number. You should get that song. Seriously.
*** CSE Revue member and incorrigible punster. Most of the time I don't know whether to laugh, kill him, or kill myself when I hear one of his puns.
2. What have I been up to all this time you ask? Well.. working mostly. That and assignments and Revue Front of House. I wish I had some coworkers who weren't the Indian equivalent of fobs though. On Thursday I had to train up 2 new guys from Bangladesh, which puts the ratio of Indian males to white females 3:1. And none of the new guys say more than 3 words at a time to me, not that that matters since its so hard to understand what they're saying anyway. My original coworker and I have reached a friendship of sorts, where we can understand eachother 80% of the time and actually talk to eachother every now and then. Here's to hoping I get to the same level with the new guys eventually, or maybe even become friendly with them *gasp*
3.But in between that, I went to Mia's 23rd birthday two weeks ago, where I ate copious amounts of food, failed at Guitar Hero, sang along (badly) to Singstar.. in short, great fun was had. I only knew a few of the people there, the rest were Mia's friends relatives and friends of relatives, but they were a pretty friendly bunch altogether. I also got to marvel at David's GPS on the way home, which is an incredibly cool gadget and reminds me of how much of a nerd I am, drooling over a piece of electronics that speaks to tell you to take the next right turn.
4. I saw CSE Revue on Wednesday, and it was so awesome that I decided it deserves a numbered paragraph all to itself. Things that were awesome about it included the band number, the set, the nerd humour, the glowsticks, and the band number. Did I mention the band number was awesome?
5. Today I decided to finally put my money where my mouth is. In the past I have been heard to express sentiments such as "If I had the money I would buy it instead of downloading or getting it off friends", and so now that I'm Officially Rich* I went to JB Hi Fi today and picked up 3 CDs to start my collection of legitimate music. Yay!
6a. Today I and some others formed a group for Software Project Management. We needed a group name and no one could think of anything clever off the top of their head. So I suggested the name of the piece of music that was playing on loop inside my skull at the time. Our group is now named Stream of Consciousness** :D And as I type this I can still hear it playing right now inside my head.
6b. I think CSE Revue has finally gotten to me, judging by my joke tonight at the dinner table which I like to think was worthy of Alex Mednis***
*TV playing in background*
Mum: Didn't we see the news already? Oh, its just.. Lateline? No, Stateline.
Me: Bah its all so confusing, Lateline, Stateline, Dateline. And when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was on they had the option of Mateline.
Needless to say, no one laughed.
*Officially Rich: Earning a decent amount of money on a permanent basis, and having a large-ish amount sitting in the bank account... well, a large-ish amount minus $50 after my CD purchases.
** For those not in the know, Stream of Consciousness is the name of the CSE Revue band number. You should get that song. Seriously.
*** CSE Revue member and incorrigible punster. Most of the time I don't know whether to laugh, kill him, or kill myself when I hear one of his puns.