Monday, 31 August 2009
HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY!!!
The concert was average. I can't remember what last year's concert was about so I can't compare. I enjoyed the drama (which is quite rare for me) and the dance was not bad. My sister would probably start dancing the moment she heard "
Candyman" by Christina Aguilera.
I couldn't help but cringe whenever the emcees came on stage. Call me old-fashion or whatever but
singlish is not cool on stage.Anyway, the highlight of the morning was actually after the concert. Everybody was supposed to return to their respective classrooms and "be with their teachers". I wonder if they were hinting to us that it was the moment to give them something for Teachers' Day. *hint hint*
A horrible sight greeted us as we were walking down the corridor. A trashcan was overturned and there were litter splattered (right word?) across the corridor. Most people walked over it while the unfortunate ones stepped on a banana. Who the heck eats a banana at a time like this?!?
I overheard one guy saying to his friend, "
Would we trip if we stepped on it?" while pointing to the banana skin. At first, and I'm not proud to admit it, I stepped over the rubbish as well. Then freakishly, one of those cloud bubbles appeared out of my head like in the cartoons.
I flash backed (right in the middle of the corridor -.-) to the time when my sister and I watched this year's NDP rehearsal. It was after the whole show and most of the audience had left... their litter behind. And yeah, most of them had literally left. I was surprised when I found
my sister picking up all of the litter (the "cleanest ones" at least)
despite the fact that it wasn't hers to pick it up. I was just standing there gawking at her. Yup, not proud of that either.
When she was finished picking up most of the litter, she tied up the plastic bag (the very very filthy plastic bag, if I may add) and walked to the big green rubbish container (again, right word?). What struck me the most was the smile the man next to that container gave. He didn't have the 100-watt smile like Clement but it was a smile nonetheless.
And at that moment, I was proud of my sister. I recalled how my father once told me during our trip in Sydney, Australia. "
Singapore is clean because of it's cleaners," he wisely commented, "
Australia is clean because of it's people." Or something along the lines. It took me a while to figure that one out.
Okay, so back to me at the corridor, standing there like nobody's business. I figured, what the heck. I bent down and started picking up litter. I thought of the cleaners, my father's words and my sister. Oh, and that guy standing next to the rubbish container having a non-100-watt smile too. It felt strange at first. After all, some people were still walking down the corridor, hence they were in my way.
Yeah, thanks guys. That's what I need right now. Keep on kicking.Although I was super grossed out by the litter (reminds me of the time I saw what waste water would become if you leave it the fridge for too long in Life Science), it felt good. I'm referring to the good feeling you get doing a good deed, not gross feeling.
After I was done doing my make-a-difference (MAD) action, I entered the class, put down my bag and proceeded to the washroom. And oh my god! It turns out that another trashcan was overturned.
Is there somebody above mocking me?!? Yes, I was pissed. But since my hands were already dirty and I was kinda on a roll, I might as well.
So I bent down and picked up more litter. By the way, I bet you guys are now bored to death reading all of this trash (no pun intended) but I'm ranting now so feel free to minimise this window and watch paint dry.
Continuing, Qian Hui passed by. She asked me what I was doing which I replied that I was picking up trash (I thought that was obvious...). With her support, okay, so she never really encouraged me but regardless, I
borrowed a broom and a dustpan from 4E2. What they wouldn't know won't hurt them. Hehehe...
Clement walked by next and he asked, "Need any help?"
Blogger's note: I have no idea why I remembered all of this. Maybe because trash-picking was so boring.Ah-hem. Anyway, this was the best part. Clement actually took a dustpan and a broom from our classroom (I wonder if he
borrowed that too...) and helped me sweep the corridor. He is such a -finding the right word for it- gentleman.
Professor Layton would be proud.Finally, the corridor was clean. Sort of. There was this piece of banana still there and I refuse to clean that up. It was too...
ugh.Still, I felt a sense of accomplishment. This would be just one of the little things I'm going to do to make myself a better person. Picking up trash was strangely therapeutic. No matter how dirty things get, you can always clean them up.
Gosh, I feel so enlightened suddenly. All from picking up trash. I should do this more often. Haha. Oh, thanks Qian hui and Clement for helping me! =)
While picking up litter, Kang Yiao walked by and said, "Why are you guys picking up litter?"
To which I replied my sister's favourite line "
Because someone gotta do it."
And that was just awesome. xD
Labels: lessons, teachers
-strips of memory
10:40 am
