Checking in on my phone, in the car right now.
I was at Changi Airport, the only airport in Singapore. It's nearer to the richer city business side of Singapore, and we were there to pick up my step sister, who was coming back to Singapore. We grabbed dinner at a food court in the airport, and it was one of those higher end food courts (Kopitiam for anyone who's been in Singapore). Food's priced around $5-7 I'd reckon.
I was sitting there, and at around my 1 o'clock, 3-4 walking steps away there was this guy. Looked Malay, and though this sounds judgemental, he didn't look very rich or financially comfortable. He was on the fatter side, balding little on the top, had a little underbite, teeth weren't perfect. Kind of like a beggar/blue collar kind of look, as much as I hate to sound like an ass, it's the best I cam describe. He looked like he was in his 40-50s.
Anyway, he was eating Yong Tau Fu by the looks of it, which is like fishballs, fishcakes, beancurd and other similar stuff in soup, usually eaten just like that or with rice/noodles. Given his look and all, I figured he was a foreigner, because I don't think a local would come all the way out here just to eat that, since it's a pretty common food.
As he was eating, he covered his mouth, and suddenly he just pukes. It gets all in his food and his tray, some even spurts on the table. There's this lady(let's call her A) who's sitting at the table just beside the man. She's eating with her 3 kids. She moves out of the way of the vomit, but immediately after just asks "Are you ok?"
Such a simple thing to say, yet it made me happy to know she was kind enough to reach out with those words.
There's a lot more to this story, but I'll continue when I get home.
--
Ya anyway, he thanked A(A's husband is nearby too, let's call him B) and nodded, but a while later he puked again, although not as badly. I was getting worried, was he really ok? But I couldn't go over to help, because my family was eating too, and I'd have to walk quite a ways to get to him because of the way tables were laid out.
Another women came by and asked if he was ok, and handed him a packet of tissues. At this point it really struck me how kind people can be, even though you don't see their kindness all the time. She even goes back and gets another fresh packet for him, and leaves it on the table.
Then this guy, let's call him K because he looks Korean, comes by and asks him if he's ok too. This guy though, he really goes out of his way. He offers him a packet of tissues, and asks if he's feeling well. Do you have a fever? Do you feel sick? I heard the man say he had food poisoning. So K kinda just pats him on the back and tells him to take care of himself. He goes to the drink store(not far away) and buys a cup of coffee(i think? Or just something warm) for the guy, which I thought was just the kindest thing ever. He leaves it on his table, and I guess(couldn't hear) tells him to take a sip and cool down. I was honestly feeling kinda sad for the man, to have bought the meal and vomit it out, and he'd be on an empty stomach for the rest of the night. Anyway, K walks off somewhere else with his wife.
B then just sits there, the table beside, just looking at him and taking care of his kids. His face isn't exactly the brightest, it kinda looks like he's thinking "this guy...." so it wasn't the most positive of looks. And then he opens his mouth, "Are you feeling ok? Dizzy?". And I just thought what I fucking idiot I am. People aren't dicks.
I think people are a lot nicer than we think they are, even though people are dicks at times, maybe when it comes down to it and someone needs help, we really reach out to them. B and the man just sit and talk, I can't hear what their talking about though, sadly. I would have loved to though. It seems like B just asks the man to take care of himself and what not.
And then K comes back with a plastic bag from a nearby convenience store, and passes the man more tissue, and holy shit, some medication. I couldn't make out what it was, it was either just pills for food poisoning, or some medicated oil. This K guy man, I wanna be like him when I grow up. Seriously. Such a kind guy. He then leaves again with his wife, probably to go grab their dinner. B continues to chat with the man.
And K comes back, again, though this time with a staff member from the customer service counter. They kinda talk, and K kinda leaves him in the care of the staff people. A guy staff member comes not long after with like a wheelchair for the man. They were probably going off to the clinic(there was a clinic in the airport, apparently). Though something came up, so the staff guy kinda just stood there while the man was sipping the drink. The customer service staff member comes back with some newspaper, and they put it on the seat of the wheel chair, which I didn't get at all? Maybe the guy had wet himself? Not sure, didn't think much of it though. The staff members then just went off and took him to the clinic(my guess).
And then I just sat there and continued eating, but I kept replaying the entire scene in my head, just thinking what I would've done if I were put in their positions. Would I have helped him too? Or would I have looked from a distance and think "that's none of my business" like I used to as a kid? Would I have helped him like K? Or would I just talk to him like B?
The male staff member comes back, looking at the table(which now had other people sitting at it), looks around for a bit. B then comes out of nowhere(their family left a while back) and goes up the the male staff member, he says something, and the male staff member replies(i couldn't quite tell what they were saying). B then passes him a red plastic bag(which I assume belonged to the man, and left it behind, although I don't recall seeing it), and goes on his way. The male staff member then walks off in the direction of the clinic.
Just this whole thing that happened during my dinner was interesting, and quite an eye-opener for me. In Singapore, honestly, these acts of strangers helping strangers isn't SUPER common. May not be specific to Singapore though. I don't go out of my way to help people, unless they ask for it, like approach me for directions. If someone looks lost I don't ask them if they need help, but I will help if they ask me to. Should I change that? Or is the fact that I would have helped enough? How do I know when to take the initiative and ask someone if they need help, or when to mind my own business?
I hope the man is doing okay though, I'm not sure if he's local or not, and K didn't look local(though he spoke English fine) but A and B definitely were. There's a lot of talk about how Singaporeans, though maybe not ONLY Singaporeans, are becoming less helpful or thoughtful in situations like what I just saw tonight, but maybe we aren't as bad as we think we are.
During the whole event though, there were other people nearby sitting around him (though they might not all have saw it because their backs were facing him or his back was facing them) that didn't do anything about it, and kind of minded their own business. I was one of them, I could have got up and walked over to him, and if I were with my friends, I MAY have, but I'll ever know if I actually would have. I was with my family though, and it felt out of place for me to do that. Was I doing the right thing? Should I have got up? What could I have done though?
This is turning out to be a diary entry haha, but this felt like a fitting place to talk about this.