Looking like thunder

Today, I woke up to a call from my sis that she had damaged our car during an accident this afternoon. I was still have my usual afternoon nap from training when Mom woke me up and told me to come along with her to the scene and snap photos.

Today unfortunately was also the day my dad had to drive to his friend’s house with a huge cache of ingredients and utensils. So Mom, my sis and I went to fetch my dad from work at Old Airport Road. Along the way, Mom vented her frustrations about doing her heavy-duty activities everyday - and really everyday, non-stop.

From sending and fetching me to and from training/school, then sending and fetching Dad to and from work, cutting the beef, making chili sauce, refreshing the vegetables, plucking bean sprout, peeling lime, collecting beef, to helping my Dad at work almost ever morning and every night.

So she finally snapped and took it out against me and my sis in the car. I was like, “Did she even ask me to help out in the first place? No.” Really, I offered my help to my parents, seeing them working their asses off and nearly breaking their backs. But they insisted that I’d sit back and relax. What is this? And now my Mom, after a year since my dad started his own business at the stall, lashed out at us just after the accident.

All the time she had to keep quiet. And for what? So that she could save her anger to vent it out at times like this, like a dam waiting for a ‘right time’ to finally burst open and let water rush through the cracks like blood rushing through our veins in anger.

Mom told me she didn’t want me to suffer ‘cos I had to study. But since I’m on vacation now, I’m free! I can help! When I asked, “can I help in any way here”. “No” was the answer. Hey, come on! A little bit help speeds things up a bit, doesn’t it? At least that kind of exhaustion can be short-lived, at that pace!

Every time somebody walked past me and asked, “how come you’re not helping your parents,” do you have ANY idea how guilty I felt? Oh well, at least they called me to help out a bit with carrying heavy loads of ingredients and stuff.

With business getting better these days, I could see only my mom doing such heavy-duty activities. I know she’s been working her ass off as well, it pains me to see her suffer like that, honest.

Now, with the car damaged in front, our plans will change again. So what’s left of our transport? Do you have ANY idea how badly we needed the car? I can guarantee it’s a lot easier travelling by car than public transport to so many places everyday!

We need it to:

- Transport ingredients (as heavy as 20-25 kilos everyday) from markets which can’t be seen from our doorstep

- Transport ingredients and utensils to my dad’s catering functions

- Drive to and from training/work, also not that near to our doorstep (ONCE OR TWICE DAILY)

- Drive to school with at least 3kgs. of books and stationery on my back

 

Dad’s always been complaining about local taxi drivers here, they think they’re ‘kings of the road’. Stop and go anywhere and anytime they like. They don’t care whether they’re in the middle of the road or not. But now…

How unfortunate of my sis to bump into a lousy cab driver today, I must say. Her own day out sent me and my parents into a daze. ‘Cos we use the car EVERYDAY, and we don’t care how much petrol we consume, so long as we don’t break our backs.

It’s so torturing to be in a situation like this. We had this in 2007, and we’re in it again. There’s repairing, claims and last-minute change of plans to be done! I don’t blame my sis though, after all, nobody wanted this to happen. However I still think she has to react faster when it comes to, you know. But FORTUNATELY, we can still drive the car with a bad front bumper, but without air-con. The driver’s door also could not be opened.

Not a happy mid-autumn festival for us this year. Not happy at all. Dad’s in a daze, Mom’s furious, Sis is guilty, I’m…(see title).

But what can I say. Better safe than sorry. That’s it.