Saturday, October 23, 2004

lesson #37: dentists & motorcyclists

Went to the dentist for filling and cleaning. The cleaning part hurt! He helped me clean right underneath the gum (I haven't been flossing as often as I should be), those unreachable areas where only dentists could go.


A more traumatic incident happened on the way to the dentist. My mum was driving me since I was late for my appointment. She slowed near a traffic light at a junction, and our car was on the right-most lane. Suddenly a middle-aged Caucasian riding a motorbike cut in front of us to turn to the right. My mum was driving straight. So our car bumped against the motorbike and I actually saw, in slow motion it seemed, the motorbike tilting and falling with a crash. The Caucasion fell off the bike.


He got up and I can see that he was in pain. Although he suffered no scratches, I think his right shoulder (the bike fell to the right) was quite badly bruised. He was holding it and massaging it. My mum was panicking. She got out of the car and went to look at him. They then argued about who was in the wrong. The Caucasian assumed that our car would be turning to the right since we were on the right-most lane. But actually we're allowed to either make a turn or go straight ahead. Mum actually scolded him because he shouldn't have made a turn when he was at the third lane, practically in the middle of the road. She was shaking, angry because he happily assumed away that everybody on the right lane would turn to the right.


He was pissed too and he waved my mum away so that he could be on his way. He tilted his bike back upright and went off. Mum got back into the car, still shaking, and we slowly drove off. All this happened when we were in the middle of a criss-crossing junction at Orchard. A lot of people who were waiting to cross the road next to us actually gaped and pointed at the accidentee's. It was the first time I ever realised that staring is rude. It's really rude. I want to shout at all of them to fuck off, or something. Honestly, if you're just gonna stand there and not do anything... then you might as well fuck off. Fuck off! Mind your own business.


My mum isn't really good when it comes to dealing with freak incidents such as this. She's really bad at it, actually. She panicked easily and this time, she really looked like she was going to break down and cry. After we drove off, we were turning into the parking lot and she almost run over a guy who was crossing the road. If I hadn't shouted a warning, we'd really have hit him. It's as if she didn't see him at all - she told me she had a headache.


At the public parking lot, she tore the parking coupon and she asked me for today's date.
Mum: Today's the 22nd, right?
(I saw her hands shaking badly as she held the coupon)
Me: No, it's the 23rd.
Mum: Are you sure it's not the 22nd?
Me: Yup...
Mum: (shouting) NO! TODAY IS THE 22nd DEAR!
Me: Mum... it's the 23rd.


Really worried about my mum... This incident has really jarred her. This is probably the first time I've seen her so vulnerable. She even told me, "If that man (the Caucasian) went to see the dentist, could you tell him to wait? Wait for me to come?" So I told her, "What are the chances that he's gonna show up at my dentist's?"


In the end I called my dad, who's at Jakarta for work, and told him all about it so he can call my mum and hopefully calm her down.