昔日文章

“How to pretend I do not know my best friend's secret while I do know ?”  Wright and Webster were assigned（ 被編排）to sit together at school many years ago, and that started their close relationship. They have been boon companions（好友）and they always say that people with names starting with a W have the same personality（性格）. True or not, they are still best friends till today.  Between the two boys, they have an unspoken（默許）practice of buying the same pair of new sneakers（波鞋）during the first week of a new year. That is not only to show others how close（密切）they are, but more on a practical side（實際方面）—— buying two pairs gets a higher discount offer. The new pair of sneakers will also be the designated（選定）Christmas presents from home, which saves their parents much effort to shop for other things.  Yet this Christmas is different. Webster's father is not doing smooth（順利） with his investment（投資）. His whole family has to move to a subdivided unit（劏房）to cut rent（租金）down. His mother, used to be a housewife, is now working part time. Life is not easy as before. Webster seldom talks about this, but it is a fact that everyone knows about at school.  As the usual practice, this weekend is the time for shopping for a new pair of sneakers.  What would you do if you were Wright?  If my good friend was tight on budget（財政緊張）, I could ask my parents to pay for him the new sneakers. My parents would be happy to help. He did not deserve（值得）to be deprived（剝削）of anything that he usually had.  To protect my friend’s feeling, I’d suggest that according to our maturity（成熟）, we should not use our parents' money any more. Instead we could both get a part time tutoring（補習）job and try saving up our own money for our new pair of sneakers. That would be the best present to our parents to show that we have really grown up. More, there would be no rush to buy anything unless the old pair was worn-out. 

“ I cannot focus with all the singing and chatting outside in the sitting room no matter how hard I try. Oh dear, it will be hours like this. How can I ever finish my homework ! ”  Rosette is a very earnest（認真）girl, she cares for（關注）her studies a lot. Just that she also has ADD, which stands for Attention Deficit Disorder（注意力缺失症）. She can be distracted（分心）by a fly flying by or the noise of a dripping tap （滴水的水龍頭）. Music to her is also a distraction, she needs complete silence. Still, she works triple hard to overcome（克服）her symptoms（症狀）. She has very high achievement at school.  Rosette comes from a devoted（虔誠） Catholic family. Every third Saturday of the month, her parents organize a prayer meeting at home for other Catholic neighbours to worship（敬拜）together. After that, there is always a casual（簡單）dinner with simple food for fellowship（聯誼）. Since they have no maid, her mother is the cook. She always starts preparing food after worshipping, which takes her an hour and a half. While she is cooking, the group will sing and talk, creating much noise, which of course disturbs Rosette from her revision. So every third Saturday night, Rosette knows she cannot focus and finds it a headache. Since the gathering starts at 6:30pm, one hour of worship, one and a half hours of chatting（mainly waiting for food）. People then slowly disperse（散去）after ten.  Rosette is always a generous（慷慨） person, and she doesn’t blame her parents for entertaining Christian neigbours. Of course God likes it when we share, whether it’s our place, food, time or our talent（才能）. But she doesn’t know what to do if the flat is so noisy for the whole night.     What would you do if you were Rosette?   I’d honestly tell my parents to control the noise level and put on a headphone so I might cut off all the noise from the sitting room. I’d read out（讀出聲）everything I would be reading or writing so I could hear nothing but my own voice.  Since I could not focus on my work anyway, I’d help my mom to prepare the simple dinner and once they finished worshipping, dinner could start immediately and they could leave earlier. This way I’d also make the neigbours feel more welcome. 

Christian has been a Scout（童軍）at school since young. In his lower forms, he spent much effort to achieve his Chief Scout Award（總領袖獎章）. The hard work was not only his, but also the Scouters（童軍領袖） who played a big role in guiding（帶領）him along. After the age of 16, one cannot be a Scout anymore and has to move on to the Venture Scout（深資童軍）section, but there is no such group at his school. Christian always goes back to assist the leaders in teaching the younger Scouts. Recently he was invited to organize（策劃）the Christmas camp, an event he never missed（錯過）in the past. But this time it's just a bad timing, Christian is sitting for the DSE and Christmas will be so packed with studies. He wants to reject but he was told that the two key leaders will be away for an international camp, leaving behind two very inexperienced new leaders. His support to this Christmas camp is so crucial（關鍵）.  Christian cannot make up his mind（決定）. Unintentionally（無意中） he flipped（翻開）his Scout Handbook（手冊）and read the Scout motto（格言）which reads, “You are always ready to do what is necessary to help others. It also means you are ready（裝備好）, willing（願意）, and able to do what is necessary in any situation that comes along. You are also being prepared to live a full（充實）and worthwhile（有價值）life, being physically fit, be an honorable citizen of strong character（品格）.” After reading that, Christian still cannot make up his mind.  What would you do if you were Christian?  I’d devote（投入）my time to helping them as it is my duty, once a Scout always a Scout. It is fine if I miss out the study time during the holiday, I can always make it up（追回）in the coming months.  I’d sure help but help in a smarter way. Instead of doing all the planning and execution（執行）by myself as in the past, I’d write down clearly a To Do List and share with the less experienced leaders so as to pass on（傳授）my experience to them. I might even visit the Scouts during camp if I were on schedule with my studies. 

" Is she really in need of help or is she just cheating me ? "  Marionette was on her way home after school. Just when she stepped out of the MTR turnsile （轉閘機）, there came（迎面而來）a lady with an empty stroller （嬰兒車）in one hand, a toddler （小孩）in the other, and on her back was another baby dozing off（半睡）.  The flustered（慌亂）lady approached（接近）Marionette and sought（尋求）for help. She explained that she was supposed to meet her husband but had been waiting for over an hour. She claimed that her mobile phone went out of battery（電池）. With two kids and a stroller, she asked for money so she could go home by taxi and would not have to ride on the MTR. She was not asking for much, just thirty dollars which was totally affordable（付得起） . Marionette could have just given her the money as a kind gesture（姿態）. She has been taught by her parents that she should be helping people if it is within her capability（能力）. Yet, Marionette was uncertain （不肯定）if she should give help by giving money. She hesitated（不肯定）for a while. The lady upon seeing her reaction（ 反應）quickly reiterated（ 反覆講） her urgency. Marionette's hesitation was reasonable（合理）. If this was just a plot（陰謀）to cheat people, she should not foster（助長）that.   What would you do if you were Marionette?  Instead of giving the lady the full amount of $30, I’d just give her ten, so if she was really in need, I had helped her a little. To play safe, I’d not let her have any of my contact, name or number, and I’d not ask for the money to be returned.  I’d ask her for her husband’s mobile number and use my own phone to call him to let him know his wife’s location and situation. If she refused my offer, I’d just walk away. I’d politely tell the lady that I would notify the information desk and let the staff come help her out. I’d not judge whether she was really in need or just a crook（騙子）.