To board or not to board... a bus

You know, after being in legal practice for quite some time and long after I had ceased practice, I found myself still handling matrimonial reconciliation cases!!! Argghhhh!!!! Yes, helping others is a good deed. But the process would really drain me emotionally. Penat. Letih and at times, rasa macam tak berbaloi... sampai hilang rasa ikhlas nak menolong.... sebab they kept on repeating the same mistake over and over again...

I don't really know for sure, but from my observation - for a majority of people, love is just like someone waiting for a bus. Yeah, a bus. Definitely not a taxi! - damn expensive. Its true - most people cannot afford it, the road are congested and bumpy, the taxi meter never stops, beeping at erratic speeds and drebarnya pulak banyak cengkadaknya!

There are a variety of buses with different colours. In the olden days in KL, we have Sri Jaya (blur blue), Tong Fong (green), Foh Fup (red) buses... so classic... So when a bus comes, you simply take a look at it and you'll say to yourself "eeee...mak oiii gelinya...why so sendat one! ....sure cannot sit down and kena raba one!".

"Okay, no sweat, I'll just wait for the next one, pasni sure dapat yang cun punya".

So you let the bus go and waited patiently for the second bus.

When the second bus came, you looked at it you say .."man... this bus is so old, patut masuk museum dah ni...so buruk one and banyak asap and hence the colour pun kelabu asap. Sure pening - I got a bad case of asthma. Tobat aku tak nak naik!"

So you let the bus go and again, decided to wait for the next bus. Maybe the next one would be even better.

After a while another bus came, it's the sexy and curvy BMW (Bas Mini Wilayah)... while not crowded, not old and decrepit but you said, "Aiyoh... takde air-condition langsung ... panasss .. better wait for the next one lah" hoping that the next one would be an the newly refurbished Intrakota or Metrobus. So again you let the bus go and decided to wait for the next bus.

Then the sky turned dark, rain started to fall as it is getting really really late.

"Aiyah! ... die la like this... mother will kill me"......you panicked and jumped immediately inside the next bus.

It is not until much later that these poor souls found out that they had boarded the wrong bus!!! Time and money wasted waiting for what you want! Its even headed to a different or wrong direction!

But again, even if one had boarded an air conditioned bus, you can't ensure that the air conditioned bus won't break down or whether or not the air-conditioner will be too cold for you.

So people... wanting to get what you want is not wrong. But it wouldn't hurt to give other people a chance. A second or third chance - well maybe(?). It depends. Entah la.

It is so often that I see that if a partner founds that the "bus" no longer suits him or her, people nowadays would not hesitate to simply press the red button and get off the bus!!! A shariah court judge when presiding a case I assisted once said "kalau tak serasi tu, berusahalah supaya muafakat, if not, no choice - better separate". But people please listen - why the shallow thinking? I guess these people have got so many answers for this.

And the process starts all over again... always waiting...

Then some of us saw a bus coming and yes, its the bus you really wanted to get on board and had waited all your dear life for it, its the bus of your dreams and you confidently flagged it but the driver acted as if he or she did not see you as if you are invisible! Worse, some bus stopped some short distance away from the designated bus stop where you had patiently waited. You quickly collect all your belongings and muster all your strength and hurried to board it, but in a matter of seconds as soon as you arrive where the bus stops, without warning, the automatic doors snapped close right in your face barely inches away and the bus simply speed off leaving you in a lurch! Ye la... Kita je sorang yang terhegeh-hegeh macam ni.

Ireotge baraman bomyo honja!!!

Oh those poor souls! Some I know are still stuck - waiting at the same spot for the same bus to return. Some have given up all hope, few suffer great mental disturbance. A close friend landed in a mental institution and after he got the electric shock treatment and after all those years, he is still not all there - part of his memories now gone for good. Thank God for his very supporting wife (this is to you sis S Z for really taking good care of Bro K A!). Some choose to walk the lonely path of self medication. Ada yang tersalah langkah and instead become a drug dependent person! Some got scarred with inferiority complex issues or simply became allergic to all buses, Thank God for ESQ programme! May Allah have mercy on them. Amin!

So some of us simply choose to walk or ride a bicycle to and fro from KL to TTDI, like my dear brother. Macho habis wa cakap! Yeah we got no choice one... Alhamdulillah, still boleh jalan... kein problem...Sehr gut!! WALK! even though you find yourself walking or cycling alone. Walking or cycling is akin being out of love. They are brave souls. I just pity some sisters... ada ke patut depa put a label on them as golongan "Andalusia" (anak dara lanjut usia). Kecian!

Although walking or cycling... one can still choose any bus you want... Hey, who said that a bicycle can't be brought unto busses in KL? Boleh la... just make sure you buy a foldie. Lipat masuk bag - sure boleh one! Anyway, for the rest who couldn't afford another ride would just have to be content with the bus they rode on, ugly or not.

Preferably you would choose a bus you are already familiar with rather than gamble with a bus that is unfamiliar to you. Ya la... I learned that one a long time ago from my former boss - better the devil that you know than the one that you tarak ada idea langsung what they are capable of doing!

But then again, no risk, no pain, no gain.

And funny thing about life is that why the heck nowadays there are so many "new" buses, waiting and honking their horns at you. How sad! What is wrong with young people nowdays?

And (sambil tepuk dahi and geleng kepala) I know this one chap..... mana tak kenalnya, aku pernah jadi pengapit dia dulu... he now is a proud legal owner/licensee of (really no joke) three (3) buses!!! Rezeki masing-masing. Maka pengajarannya - bersyukurlah dengan apa yang kita ada.