Saturday, August 1, 2009

Thrill.

It all seemed so easy. I had attended the briefing, read books on such events, and here was I, ready to take on the Taman Jurong area on my shoulders. I located my class commitee, found our buddy and was ready to set off on our recee trip to distribute flyers for next friday's newspaper collection for donation.

Hoisting my branded bag on my shoulders, I was ready to face anything to come. We looked at the map provided and gave a sigh of indifference. The job was just too simple for us; it was just a few blocks that we had to distribute flyers.

I looked around with confidence, everyone was ready, the weather was fine and we all smiled as the buddy called for a meeting.

We were all stunned by the shocking news.

"Guys... I'm sorry that we have to take on 1P2's blocks as they are not going to be here."

We all grumbled but still, our faces shone with uncontrollable grins of excitement; it still looks very easy though.

In order to speed up our distribution of flyers, we decided to split ourselves into 3 groups - I chose Jeremy, a tall, cheerful person that definitely looked like a formidable team player. We were in charge of 4 blocks. It was just so simple.

We decided to take the lift to the top floor then slowly move down floor by floor so travelling would be much eaiser. It was 11:15 and we had to finish the job by 12:45. We all thought that 1 and a half hours were more than sufficient for us. And we were terribly wrong.

After finishing the first block, we found out that we have actually used half an hour. We were seriously behind schedule, while the pther teams were already halfway through the second block. Demoralised, we did not have any other solutions than speed up our movement.

THe next three blocks were just so slow, but we definitely enjoyed the proccess. Only now did I realized the hardship of being a newspaper distributer. Most of the residents did not open their doors so we squeezed the flyers into their gates or under their doors. Those who opened the doors were of different varieties. For the first of my life, I guarantee you, have I met such strange people.

Some were just simply indifferent to our distribution. They must have thought we are some stubborn salesman knocking on the door and deliberately ignored us. For these kind of people, we just have to leave the flyers outside their doors.

Some were just simply arrogant. There was a particular lady who saw me outside, and before I could introduce myself, she snapped, "Yes? What are you doing?" I felt like whacking her for not appreciating my hardwork and not noticing the beads of perspiration on my back but I just could not; i would be whacked by the teacher in charge :) Anyway, she snatched the flyer from my hand and sayed not another word when strolling into her room. Tolerance was a challenge.

I love the last kind of person, the kind and enthusiastic one. There was a particular old lady who screamed when she saw. She shrilled, "You must be tired! Come, let me give you a drink" I couldn't resist the offer, and both Jeremy and me laughed as we were thrilled by such warmth. THe most amazing thing is what she said at the end, "You look hungry, do you wnat to come in to have a meal?" We immediately insisted on rejecting her offer and quickly left before she comes up with any more ideas. What a wonderful experience!

In the end, we finally managed to finish our mission. Despite the fatique experienced, I felt as if I could live my whole life off this immense thrill.

2 comments:

Nicholas said...

AH-HA! I spotted at least 3 spelling errors in this post! MUAH HAR HAR HAR...... I was right about your spelling errors! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! You know what bad examples you are setting for people who don't know how to read??? What if they learn wrong ways of spelling??? (okay fine just kidding) (:

Jonah said...

I should learn more from you :) As if! No lah just kidding :)