Today, on Friday, we came back in 2 separate cars, which would not normally happen on weekdays where we would carpool and come back in one car. Typically on Friday, the roads would be more horribly choking than the usual unbearable jam anyway. It was a busy day in the office, clearing the horrible mess resulted from me making half of my room available to another person bunking in so we didn't get to discuss what to have for iftar. She was in the other car with all the children and I was driving alone in the small green car. So, I was practically talking to her on the phone, without handsfree kit, while looking into my rear windscreen in the gridlocked traffic.
Wow! That sounds like a very dull intro. Haven't been writing for a while and I'll try to make it more interesting from now onwards to make it worth your while.
While we would normally go home together and she'll cook just in time for iftar, the congestion was extraordinarily bad. So, we decided maybe to eat outside for today. Until at the very last traffic light junction, I received a quick call from her saying our fasting Alyssa would like to have nasik lemak at home and I am entrusted to buy some ingredients from the local grocery store.
To cut a long story short, I was already in front of the cash register that showed a total of RM4.60. And viola! I suddenly discovered I had no paper money in my wallet at all! Instantaneously, I remembered when it's too late that the last 100 I had in the wallet was given to Alyssa to pay off her kum0n. An I don't need to be a genius to tell that the paltry amount of coins that I had in the wallet would not even cover half of that amount. Blue-faced, I told the cashier to hold on to the goods while I made my way to the nearest petrol station which is within a walking distance from the grocery store. And this was when the iftar time is looming within 30 minutes.
A hurried walk saw me arriving at the petrol pump in 5 minutes. And guess what? I don't even need to go into the convenience store to see the highly visible sign pasted conspicuously on the ATM saying "Out of Order". Oops. Failed on the second contingency there.
So, what did I do now that the deadline has been reduced to a mere 25 minutes? Surely I would take about 15 minutes to go back and forth and secure some money from home. So, I had to make the straightest face and go to the cashier to secure the goods on credit (aka hutang) first to make sure we could eat on time , then come back and pay when the chef was coming up with the evening delicacies.
Which I succeeded since I don't exactly have the face that would scam anybody at first instance. At least I would like to think that I don't.
So, thankfully this story ends with a happy ending even though we had to wait impatiently for about 5 minutes before the rice cooker's switched popped up. And everybody lived happily ever after, up till now at least...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
12 comments:
Thank God for small grocery stores that still take credit ;)
If you were at the supermarket, they'd prolly make you leave without your stuff.
Hehhe.. alahai, sabar jela. Tu la, bulan puasa ni mcm2 dugaan datang =)
dia ada buku tiga lima tak?
hah! dah bayar ke belum ni? heh heh
demi permintaan anak yang puasa sanggup buat apa saja kan?
I usually keep coins in my car or some seringgit dua. Tapi kan kalau dah nak jadi tu jadi jugak kan.
Erm...I am cooking nasi lemak today. Kegemaran anak2.
Ever heard of 'duit lipat' ? Fold a RM50 note selit kat one of your wallet pockets. Use only during emergency, like in your case. Heheh.
'Duit lipat' saved Firhad twice, at least. Fun part is, he had no idea i put the money there. So bila dia call, kecoh-kecoh i asked him to check his wallet, again.
Rasa macam buat magic je hehehe.
'demi permintaan anak yang puasa sanggup buat apa saja kan?'
betul tu lollies :)
yeay to small shops. i still patronize small shops here even though mahal sikit from the walking distance supermarket, cause sometimes it's more of when lupa bawak duit or tak cukup, you can kawtim and come back later for it.
-nonah-
elisa: tu lah. tebal muka woo mintak hutang. but had to go by that principle thick face black heart la kan ehehe.
myra: dugaan....
lolls: hey mana pergi orang log in ym takde pun? ehehehe
takde buku tiga lima. he just kept the unpaid receipt aside. dah bayar dah :p. immediately after that memang nak kena beli kuih for bukak puasa pun. so bayar la dulu.
itu lah. masa call tu beria la nak makan itu ini segala. after that terus nak masak je.
butterflutter: dulu2, i would normally keep about 50 bucks in the car for contingency purposes. unfortunately, selalu kena pakai and tak replace lagi, huhuhu.
rotinotti: that's a brilliant idea... will be adopted. though i wouldn't want to know where you keep your duit lipat though :p
goboklama: itu lah emak orang semua.
nonah: waa you must be a regular customer there sampai boleh kawtim camtu. i'd normally go to that small outlet to shop for fresh fish or seafood or other perishables.
woopssss..mesti merah telinga, muka segala heheh...ramai org tak kat keliling you? well, dah desperate nak buat camna kan :) i would do the same if i'm in your shoes.
i pun simpan duit lipat :P
zan: huhuhu tu la dia. ada la 3 4 orang tengah queue kat belakang tu.
pompuan senang la nak simpan duit lipat though taking it out would take some skill to be discrete ehehehe
i penah mintak sedekah beberapa sen from lorry drivers at one of the johor tolls sebab tak ada duit toll in malaysian currency. paiseh tapi apa nak buat? pandai sangat tak tukar duit.
nazrah: i pun pernah jugak to fill up the coin slots for parking machine coz i had no coins and cigarettes is rounded up to a whole ringgit number, lagi la susah nak dpt change. how much did you ask? susah dapat?
Post a Comment