here’s mine
The air reeked of gasoline and sweat, aggravating my frazzled nerves as I willed AC7 to arrive. The fans were blowing at me, their steady whirring seemingly mocking the perspiration flowing down my spine. Cold spine.
5.07pm. The seconds ticking by, I needed to pick up the kids by 7pm.
Thank God! I saw one AC7 bus arriving at the berth. Tired passengers boarded. The bus pulled away. Things were moving at last!
Until it got stuck in the middle of the causeway. Oh my goodness. One day’s worth of freedom is NOT worth the stress incurred in trying to get back to my kids. I could do nothing. Logically speaking, I ought to reach Yishun by 6.30pm.
The stretch of highway that linked Singapore and Malaysia? It’s not that long actually, but I only descended upon Singapore soil at 5.50pm. Yes, I can answer with such precision because I kept switching off the Airplane Mode, hoping for my telecoms network to be restored. I was dying of boredom and had my longevity reduced by the mounting pressure. Was I going to reach Yishun Bus Interchange by 6.30pm???????
Okay, my network was restored by 6pm. From Woodlands to Yishun. I should be able to make it, barring any unexpected incidents. I started to relax a bit and gulp the thunder tea iced milk tea I had bought at 客人来 at Mid Valley. This parentified Cinderalla should be able to make it in time.
When I left Cuba for Brazil, we had to go through Venezuela to reach Brazil, where we crossed the border. We left Cuba on April 17th, a Monday. The plane we were supposed to catch at 4 PM never left because it didn't arrive in Havana. We left Cuba at 12:17 AM on Tuesday. At 8:00 AM, we had to catch a flight within Venezuela to another city, so if we were delayed any longer, we wouldn't get on. But, well, everything went well, and we managed to catch the other flight. From there, we arrived to the city of coyote , and that day we couldn't leave by car because there were roadblocks (protests) by miners on the roads. So, on Tuesday, we couldn't leave and had to sleep in that city. Coyote's house was extremely dirty; he even had mice in the room. So, thank God, the people who were helping us in Brazil—his parents lived in that same city—and they picked us up and took us to their house. On Wednesday, we left the city at 9 AM, heading for the Brazilian border. Halfway there, the car broke down and we were stranded in the middle of nowhere. Imagine, me, my wife, and a one-year-old child in the middle of nowhere. At that moment, a thousand things go through your head: are they going to kill us and leave us there, stealing all our money, etc.? Well, the guy managed to get someone to tow us to the nearest town, and we slept in a seedy motel. The next day, Thursday, he still hadn't fixed the car, so another coyote had to come and sort it out. From there, it was nonstop until early Friday morning when we finally reached the border. We crossed with other people on motorcycles, and the coyote took us to the hostel where we were going to stay.
After I took a bath and collapsed into bed, it was like all the stress vanished at once; it was like I'd finally exploded.
It had been almost five days without sleep, and with all the psychological burden of knowing my family's life was at stake.
I am so humbled by your account. Your matter-of-factly narration made everything I have gone through in my life seem so trivial. Thank you for sharing. I realise just how sheltered I have been in Singapore - I never have to worry about my safety.
I think regardless of the difficulties you face now in Brazil, they will be nothing compared to those five days of hell. Hope everything’s going well. Fight!
It's been nearly a year. I applied for a permanent job in Spain. I was told I was the best candidate. Little did I know that the 3 days of interviews would nearly devastate me. Day by day, it became painstakingly clear that the people who supported me were initially unaware of plans made by the opposing side to support their candidate, at all costs. And the opposing side had managed to put their pawns in the jury, making it mathematically impossible for my side to get the upper hand during the voting process. I came over from Korea, thinking I'd have fought off the jet lag by the day of the first interview. I didn't. Ensued three days of sleeping 2 hours per night, trying to make up for the odds tilted against me. On the day of the last interview, it was already clear that I could no longer catch up. Someone from my side told me I should not even bother coming over. Someone else from my side told me I could use this opportunity to leave the competition with my head up high, and, at the same time, seize the chance to speak my mind and ask the jury if they believed they had acted ethically and with full scientific integrity. I came short of dropping the word corruption. I ended up crushing it in the last interview, yet the math was unforgiving. Adding up all points, I lost by a fraction of a point. The stress during those days was crazy. Freaking out of my mind crazy. And my wife usually complains that I am too relaxed, so this was really out of the ordinary. I enjoyed it so much that I am trying again this year.
@delete in 24 hours.
You told me how you gave the panel a piece of your mind, but I had no idea that the odds were stacked so unfairly against you. Thanks for entrusting me/us with this personal episode - I hope writing this out helped exorcise any residual demons.
I think it’s amazing how you almost beat the other candidate even though a team was trying its darned best to deny victory to you. And that you are trying again. I think showing up is the best revenge you can exact. They will surely feel a slap in their faces when you march up to them with your chest pumped and head held high!
Is this why you haven’t been as active here recently? I wish you all the best. Go get those (insert your swear word of choice here), haha