How do you deal with a lunatic?
Saturday morning:
I was at Bedok Interchange hawker centre for my usual breakfast of carrot cake. Had chwee kuay, fried chicken wing and hashbrown too, hand was oily as a result. Went to the sink by the toilets to wash my hand, but what I saw there was an oldish Chinese man washing his hands. Ok, so I shall wait. 10 seconds passed, and he still looked as if he was hardly done yet.
That was when I realised there was something loose in this man's mind, and he had to be at the sink at the moment when I wanted to use it. He was wasting a copious amount of water too, and he should be stopped.
What should I do? If I go up to him and politely ask him to step aside, he would probably ignore me and I will look like a fool. If I go and yell at him: 'OI, SIAM LAH!', I will look like a cad. If I go and shove him aside (since there's no point reasoning with a lunatic), he may turn violent; worse still, he could splash water all over the Italian calf leather strap on my Panerai.
What did I do then? I turned around and headed back to my seat, with hand still oily. Truth is, I have always been intimidated by the mentally ill. Aren't we all...
That man should be transported to the fountain at Bugis Junction; he will be happy and there will be no wastage of water.
Saturday morning:
I was at Bedok Interchange hawker centre for my usual breakfast of carrot cake. Had chwee kuay, fried chicken wing and hashbrown too, hand was oily as a result. Went to the sink by the toilets to wash my hand, but what I saw there was an oldish Chinese man washing his hands. Ok, so I shall wait. 10 seconds passed, and he still looked as if he was hardly done yet.
That was when I realised there was something loose in this man's mind, and he had to be at the sink at the moment when I wanted to use it. He was wasting a copious amount of water too, and he should be stopped.
What should I do? If I go up to him and politely ask him to step aside, he would probably ignore me and I will look like a fool. If I go and yell at him: 'OI, SIAM LAH!', I will look like a cad. If I go and shove him aside (since there's no point reasoning with a lunatic), he may turn violent; worse still, he could splash water all over the Italian calf leather strap on my Panerai.
What did I do then? I turned around and headed back to my seat, with hand still oily. Truth is, I have always been intimidated by the mentally ill. Aren't we all...
That man should be transported to the fountain at Bugis Junction; he will be happy and there will be no wastage of water.
