Soft Spot for The Oldies

It's been a while Blogspot! Not that anyone missed me or anything, oh please, no one even knows this blog exists. Lately, I really had nothing to talk about which explains why I haven't written anything at all this week. The one I've posted this week and last week had been on my draft for almost two weeks. 

This post will be about a special moment that happened during Mother's Day.

After celebrating Mother's day downtown with my parents, we decided to go home since we still had a lot of things to do. We took the subway home and it was surprisingly not busy.

I was sitting beside an old Chinese grandma in the subway train. She was sitting where the window was, and since I was beside her, we were both facing the direction of the train. I noticed that she kept looking on her left side (where I was) and I realized that she was observing twins on the stroller. She had this really peaceful and gleeful smile while gazing at them. She was so adorable that I wanted to pinch her cheeks. It's always a long way home from Downtown, it usually takes 30-40 minutes until I get to my stop. Since I was really bloated from the all-you-can eat Sushi that I consumed, I focused on my music.

I saw through her actions that her stop was next and since my legs were on the way, I had to move for her to pass. When she was about to leave her seat, she said something to me. Unfortunately, I was not able to hear her because I had my earphones on, but it was somewhere along the lines of take care. 

Although I was not able to hear what she had to say, I was dazed by her cheerful smile. I rarely see the elderlies that happy and bright, especially in a public transit. I felt bad that I was not able to reply to whatever she said so I moved to her seat and hoping I would see her pass by the window. When she got off of the train, she looked at the window where I was sitting and when she saw me she waved goodbye and smiled bright from ear to ear. I felt some positive energy and less annoyed in the train after seeing her smile.

I always have a soft spot for the aged people. I grew up with my grandparents which explains why I do. Her smile seriously brightened up my mood! I was concerned about her though. I started to wonder if she is alone in life or if she has a family to come home to. I felt bad that she had to take the public transit by herself. It looked like she is alone in the city, but I really hope she has a family here. No one deserves to grow old alone. Her smile looked so optimistic and it really passed on to me because her smile enlivened my mood. To others that might be normal, but to me, it was special and rare. She totally made me miss my grandparents even more.

Rare Streak of Luck

This post had been on my draft for weeks! Oopsies!

I usually do not believe in luck or anything that is associated with it. Mostly because of all the unfortunate events that happened to me lately. But things turned around....

One very early morning, I found myself wide awake and sleep deprived. There are days when I really have some trouble sleeping and that morning was one of those days. Since I was awake and had nothing better to do, I decided to go with my parents and do some errands. It was such a beautiful morning that day and the weather was perfect to most of the population. My mother and I had to do something before we went grocery shopping. My dad on the other hand had to wash the car. While my mother and I were trying to waste time, she decided to buy some crossword puzzle scratch card in the convenient store. My mom has an obsession (well I call it an obsession) with scratch cards and lottery. It's awesome how she wins all the time but not the jackpot prize. She knew I enjoy scratching cards which was why she asked me to pick one and she was going to pay for it. Obviously I did not decline. We went back to our waiting location and we scratched the cards we bought. I decided to listen to music on my iPhone as I scratched the card I have chosen to play. I had an inexplicable energy for someone who lacked sleep. It was probably the music, all I knew was that I was happy scratching the card. My heart was racing because I was so eager to see if I won something, and as I scratched out all the letters, I was very pleased to see that I won, finally!

See, I bought a lot of crossword scratch cards in my life and had no luck. Except for that one time when my mother bought a card and asked me to scratch it, although the prize was only $3. I do not count that as my winning moment because she picked the card. But this time I finally won, even though she paid for it, I chose the card! I was very happy because I won $25! You might consider my winning momentum as no big deal because it's a small amount but I am still thankful.

The selfish person that I am wanted to keep the $25 for myself but my mother argued and claimed her right to collect the prize. Some of you might be on her side but I believe that was all on me.. I deserve the credit. Since I chose the card I settled for $20 and she took $5 and added another dollar to buy two more scratch cards. Of course, one for each of us. Guess what? My mother won $25, and I won $5! Crazy right? But crazier after we found out that we won more than we expected! When we went to the convenience store to claim our prizes, we screamed when the machine declared that my mother won $50 (We thought she only won $25). So what did my mother do? She did not want to stop and block the run of luck so we played more. Much to my glorified triumph, I kept winning more $3 from my scratch cards. The lady at the convenience store kept telling each and everyone at her store about me and my mother's sweep because we kept winning. Our continuous victory made us keep coming back to the store. Not to imply greed but how I wish we won the jackpot instead! Wouldn't you?

That day was not a normal day for me, I felt happy that I almost seem boastful about it. The excitement and joy I felt winning consecutively was something I will never forget... I call it, the rare steak of luck.

Do you spend more time at work than with your family?

I found this really touching story about a father who works really hard for
his family and his son..

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?"
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make $100 an hour."
SON: "Oh! (With his head down).
SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $50?"

The father was furious.

DAD: "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

DAD: "Are you asleep, son?"
SON: "No daddy, I'm awake."
DAD: "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $50 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, smiling.

SON: "Oh, thank you daddy!"

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

DAD: "Why do you want more money if you already have some?"

SON: "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do. Daddy, I have $100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

This story is just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $100 worth of your time with someone you love. If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.


Some things are more important than others.

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I am not quite sure if this story really happened or not. I also am not taking any credit for this work. But I can show you where I read it from, over here. Thought I should just post it for you all to read because it really is true. I hope this serves as an eye-opener for most of you. Often times, especially for families who need to have both parents working due to financial circumstances, lose time for each other because of work schedules. We should always remember that a time spent with family is the greatest thing in the world. Even when you work hard for your family, family time should be prioritized because you do not know when your last breath will be. Spending time with your family also relieves you from being tired and stressed. To make and have memories with your family makes all your hard work worth it.