Awful Hour

Tried to finish some errands in time down town Saigon today in hope could catch a bus not squeezing through the crowds. There has been an anticipation visiting good friends who just moved in the suburb area. So off I went to the bus station.  

In few steps walked, the ambiance of the city turned upside down all of a sudden. I didn’t feel so well– it’s like a thin line from sanity to insanity – freaking out in silence.

The sun this time was just so aggressive, and too unkind for its stinging heat – caused almost every person in bad mood including mother earth. It was like sitting around the fireplace in midday.

Those ordinary things I usually paid no attention now have become annoyances. Suffering for an hour was like forever. I couldn’t wait to have it over.

Who could stand a persistent woman selling lottery tickets despite countless refusals? I had no patience for such pushiness – not this moment – it really gets on my nerves – she was just irritating not to understand a simple ‘no’.

Then there they were those nark “xe om” drivers trying to spoil my day. Their nosiness and craftiness drove me even more exasperated. They were just illogical buggers who don’t know who’s who – a bus commuter or a xe om passenger.

Smokers also drove me around the bend. And no matter how I tried to find a smoke-free-zone, just could not find a safe spot – they were all around me. So I had to go round and round under the heat of the sun to evade exposure to secondhand smoke.

But I stood them all in silence, upset though. 

It was already an hour or so waited for nothing and not a familiar bus came. Before I realized, it was actually unnecessary to go to the main station to catch the right bus. It stops exactly at backpacker’s area where I did some errands earlier. I totally forgot.

But it was too late to regret. So I headed back to where I should catch one. In half an hour’s time, there it came – finally the right bus.

“What an awful hour it was!” I whined.

But it was only one awful hour – it didn’t actually ruin my entire day. As far as I remember, good things happened before and after this seemingly appalling sixty minutes or so – a coffee talk with an old friend this morning; a chat on FB with family and friends; a warm welcome from kind hosts (for their time, for the fellowship, for the cash, for the bountiful blessings around the table); an early Christmas gift from a friend who is in Portugal; and more.

Again, it was only one awful hour!