Aunty, You Can Go Down!
A comfy seat, a peaceful ride,
The driver stopped, but not quite right.
Aunty walked with aching feet,
Poor Hubby got an earful that night!
My Comfortable Feng Shui Seat
It was one of those evenings when all I wanted was to get home, put my aching feet up and rest.
There I was, comfortably settled into my favourite feng shui seat on an air-conditioned bus, already halfway to Lala Land.
Then my handphone rang.
Hubby.
“Where are you?”
“On the bus, going home.”
“I'm somewhere nearby. I'll pick you up.”
“Huh? No need lah! I'm already very comfortable here.”
But Hubby insisted.
After some resistance from Aunty and persistence from Hubby, we finally reached an agreement.
I would alight at the next bus stop, and he would come and fetch me.
Simple, right?
Famous last words.
Alamak! Where Am I?
“Where are you now?” Hubby asked.
I looked out of the window.
Er…
Where AM I?
After some serious geographical investigation from my comfortable seat, I finally recognised the surroundings.
“Bukit Timah Road, just after Tekka Market.”
“Okay. Get down at the next bus stop and tell me the exact location.”
“Okay lah!”
Easy peasy.
Or so I thought.
The Magic Button
As the bus approached the next stop, I pressed the bell.
DING!
Aunty had successfully completed Step One of Operation Hubby Pick-Up.
Then something strange happened.
Mr Driver stopped the bus some distance BEFORE the bus stop.
The doors opened.
I looked outside.
Huh? Haven't reached mah!
So I remained comfortably seated.
Nobody moved.
The doors stayed open.
Then I noticed something rather uncomfortable.
The passengers were looking at me.
Why everybody looking at Aunty?
Did I grow another head?
Finally, Mr Driver turned around.
“Aunty, can go down.”
“Huh?”
I pointed towards the bus stop farther ahead.
“Haven't reached!”
“Reached already. You can go down here.”
By now, I could hear some passengers laughing.
ALAMAK!
What was going on?
Was Mr Driver having a bad day? Had some difficult passengers upset him earlier?
Never mind lah.
Better get down first. Don't argue.
And so, one very confused Aunty stepped off the bus.
The Longest Short Walk
The bus stop was still some distance away.
Normally, I wouldn't have thought twice about walking there.
But that evening, my feet were aching badly.
In fact, that was precisely why Hubby had insisted on fetching me. He knew I was having difficulty walking and wanted to spare me the journey home.
Step… step… step…
Aiyoh.
Why couldn't Mr Driver have stopped at the bus stop properly?
Never mind. Just walk lah.
Eventually, after what felt like a mini expedition, I reached the shelter.
At last!
I took out my handphone and called Hubby.
“Okay, I'm at the bus stop already…”
And while talking to him, I happened to look around.
Then I saw something.
Eh?
I looked again.
ALAMAKKKKK!
The Mystery Finally Solved!
The bus stop was still operating, but the area directly in front of the shelter had been blocked off with railings.
Passengers were supposed to board and alight farther away.
Exactly where Mr Driver had stopped!
OH MY GOODNESS.
Suddenly everything made sense.
Mr Driver wasn't being difficult.
He had stopped at the correct place.
The passengers knew what was happening.
Only clever Aunty didn't!
And what had I done?
I had climbed off the bus at the proper alighting point and painfully walked towards the very bus stop that the driver wasn't supposed to stop at!
Aiyoh, Aunty!
No wonder everybody was laughing!
Aunty Die Die Must Find Out Why
Of course, being Aunty, I couldn't simply accept this strange arrangement without finding out why.
After some investigation, I eventually discovered the explanation.
Space constraints along that stretch of road had resulted in an unusual bus bay design.
The shelter was positioned where the pavement was wide enough to accommodate it, near the tapered end of the bus bay.
The railings helped direct passengers towards the proper boarding and alighting area, preventing buses from stopping at the wrong section and obstructing traffic.
OHHHHHHH!
So there was a perfectly sensible explanation after all.
Mr Driver knew what he was doing.
The passengers knew what they were doing.
Even the railings knew what they were doing.
Only Aunty didn't know what she was doing!z
One More Obstacle!
Now, you would think the story ended there.
Not quite.
While waiting for Hubby, I suddenly realised something else.
Those railings!
When Hubby arrived, I couldn't simply walk straight from the shelter to his car.
I would have to go around the barricade AGAIN!
Aiyohhhhh!
By then, my feet were so painful that I honestly felt like crying.
What looked like a short distance to other people felt like two kilometres to me.
And I still had more walking to do.
All because I hadn't understood why Mr Driver opened the doors earlier.
好心做坏事
Eventually, Hubby arrived to rescue his poor, exhausted wife.
Was Aunty grateful?
Of course!
But that didn't stop me from grumbling all the way home.
“If you hadn't insisted on fetching me, I would still be sitting comfortably on the bus!”
“My feng shui seat was so nice!”
“I was already halfway to Lala Land!”
“Then because of you, I got down at that funny bus stop and had to walk and walk!”
Poor Hubby tried to defend himself.
“But I fetched you because your feet were aching!”
“THAT'S WHY I SAY 好心做坏事!”
Good intentions, unexpected trouble!
Poor man.
He had only wanted to save his wife some walking.
Instead, he got one confused bus stop, one unnecessary expedition and one grumbling
Aunty in his car.
And he had to listen to the whole story until we reached home.
Funny Now… Not So Funny Then
Looking back today, I can laugh at the whole incident.
The puzzled driver.
The amused passengers.
The mysterious railings.
And one blur Aunty who insisted on walking to the wrong place.
But that night, it really wasn't funny.
My feet hurt with every step, and all I wanted was to get home.
Poor Hubby kena terok-terok from me, although he hadn't really done anything wrong.
He was simply being a caring husband, trying to make my journey home a little easier.
As for Mr Driver, he had done exactly what he was supposed to do.
So who was to blame?
Technically, nobody.
But that night hor…
Aunty still reserved the right to blame Hubby!
And that, my friends, is why an ordinary bus stop along Bukit Timah Road became one
of Aunty's most unforgettable little adventures.
Sometimes, the shortest journeys leave us with the longest stories.
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