three nights ago i had a flat tire. i was going out for dinner with my sister izzati when i felt that sumthing wasnt right with my car. so when we reached our destination about 3-4 km away, we noticed the tire was completely flat. and i was thinking in my head "great, just what i needed". i had never change a flat tire before. i mean ive seen my dad do it, and my brothers do it, it seems easy, im sure i can manage. i mean how difficult can it be right? so i popped the hood, got out the jack and the spare tire and opened up the instruction manual.
CHANGING A FLAT TIRE.
1. Park in safe and even road.
2. unscrew the bolts halfway. (notice it doesnt say clockwise or anti-clockwise)
3. place the jack under the constructed surface of the car (altho there are pictures, i still have no idea what is a constructed surface)
4. Pump up the jack to begin lifting the car. (seems easy right)
anyway, there is no need to go on with the list as mind u, i was stuck at number 2.
seriously the blot was screwed permanently together. there is no way i can unscrew it. i pulled the bar. hmm not budging. i pushed. humphhh. not a single thing. i stepped on it. nothing happening. so naturally i did what any other normal girl wud do. i called my dad. but he was away in melaka, and of coz he did what every other dad wud do. he said "hold on ill come and get u"... nooooooo thats not right. besides it was already 9p,. i had work at 10pm. so i told him to hold on while i try to get sum of my guy frens on the fone and see of they cud help. Raveen picked up, but he had rounds so that means i had to wait for a while. so anyway while waiting, me and izzati were still trying to figure out how to get those darn bolts to turn.
while we were doing this, suddenly a young indian guy approached us. he said that he was looking at us from a row of shop houses across the street. he was staying at the houses above the shops, and he wanted to lend us a hand in changing my flat tire. i was more then happy to let him. so while changing the tire i noticed that he was looking left and right, as if he was uneasy. and then he dropped the bomb. "actually i just came out of prison, and im on parole so im not allowed to leave home after 8pm." ...................... a few mins of silence. i noticed izzati took a step back. but i maintain my cool. "oh ok", i said. as if its the most natural thing in the world to have an ex-prisoner to change my car tire. he continued to change the tire. "why did u go to prison", thats me asking, knowing me i cant shut my big mouth. Gulp. "oh i was involved in fight in KL sentral". hmm must be some fight. anyway within 10 mins he was able to complete the tire-changing job. and then he left, with a big smile on his face. i thanked him, still having a little bit of disbelief over what just happened.
so the moral of the story is this. while waiting by the roadside, with my hood popped and with the instructions manual in my hands, there were a lot of people passing by. they wud glance, and then continued walking. none of them really did stop to offer assistance. but this ex-prisoner, ex-fighter dude actually bothered to cross the street and offered to change my flat tire. in all the 'badness' that he was sent to prison with, he turned out to have more kindness in any of the people who passed by and ignored us. thank u kind stranger. i shall never forget ur kindness.
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