昔日文章

" Why is the lift stopping at almost every floor ? I will be so late !"  It's the annual（年度）Sports Day today and Owen has to travel to another district for the event. In the morning, his mother listened to the news and learned that there was a bad traffic jam（交通擠塞）and brought to Owen's attention（提醒Owen）that he had to leave some buffer（儲備時間）so as to arrive without delay（延遲）. Owen had so much to pack and bring while the clock ticked the minutes（時鐘滴答滴答地報時）. He checked an app on his cell phone that the bus he needed to ride on would be coming in a few minutes. He just had to flee（匆忙離開）and rush to the bus stop as fast as possible, otherwise waiting for the next bus would take another 15 minutes.  As Owen lives on the top level（頂層）of the building, the lift of course arrives empty all the time, so getting in is never a problem. But Owen did not know there are so many more neighbours leaving at the same time just half an hour later than his usual hour. The lift stopped at a good number of（好多）floors and was quite packed. Each time the lift stopped, Owen's heart sank（沉）a little. When it reached the fourth floor, the door swung（打開）open again. This time there was an old man in a wheel chair and a caretaker（照顧者）was trying to push the wheelchair in. The caretaker made a few attempts（幾次嘗試）but failed to manipulate（控制）the wheelchair. She was not giving up though. Owen had ants in his pants（心急如焚）, and he had to do something in order not to miss the bus.     What would you do if you were Owen ?   I'd tell the caretaker most politely that the lift was full and request her to wait for the next round.  I'd just leave the lift and let them in and I’d run at my top speed（最快速度）down the stairs to the lobby and flee for the bus stop. On one hand, I’d not have to waste time to explain, the other, I’d be doing a kind act making people feel good. 

“Each of my belongings（個人物品）is so dear to my heart, how could I simply get rid of them! I wish I lived in a four thousand feet mansion （大厦）. ”  It's still a long time before the Chinese New Year comes, but Alicia's parents have started planning for that. They will have the house renovated（翻新）so the whole family has to move out for a few weeks. During that time, the family of five will have to squeeze into a temporary service apartment （短期的服務式公寓）of no more than 500 sq ft. Now, Mom and Dad are setting guidelines（指引）and responsibilities（責任）for each family member. Heated（激烈） discussions happened in the past few family meetings leading to no concrete（具體）solutions.  Nobody wants to throw away own personal belongings to make room（騰出空間）. Alicia has kept all her old text books and notebooks tidily as if she has a library at home. She always has a large collection（收藏）of toys. Worse, her handworks from kindergarten all the way through P.6 has each been well kept, from the size as little as a perfume bottle（香水瓶）to as big as a pillow. Alicia's parents suggested that as all these have to go one day, it's a good opportunity to clear them out now. Whenever this issue（議題）is raised, Alicia cannot hold back her tears. Each piece of item is so dear to her. Just looking at her presents received, she can tell who gave it to her at which party. Among them include tattered（破爛）story books, dried up felt pens （箱頭筆）!    What would you do if you were Alicia ?   I’d fight for my right（權利）to keep my own belongings. The renovation was not initiated（發起）by me and it should not jeopardize（危及）any of my rights. I would fight till the end.  I’d calculate how many more years these objects（物件）can stay with me, till my university days, work life, or after my marriage? Things that were only dear to my heart and not usable or useful, I could take a photo or video so I’d store the memory forever. Things that anyone else could use, I’d donate（捐出）, that way I could give each beloved item a higher value （價值）. 

" If I say yes and cook as Grandma wants, she'll be happy but that will be very bad for her health. If I keep her diet（日常飲食）very strict（嚴格）, she threatens she’d rather die⋯⋯ what to do with this childlike old lady! "  Tobias is one of the very few boys who can cook and is willing to cook for the family. Both of his parents work long hours. Though coming home late and sleeping at the wee hours（午夜後）, Mom and Dad aspire（渴望）to maintain good health. Eating healthy is one of the ways to achieve that. Tobias started cooking for the family since Primary 5. Before that, Grandma would prepare a hearty meal nightly（每晚）. She did not concur（贊同）that boys should be inside a kitchen. Until a great opportunity befell（降臨）, Tobias didn't come to realize his talent and interest in cooking. That year he was eleven, the brother of his dad from overseas visited and stayed for a fortnight（兩星期）at their place. That uncle advocated（主張）that cooking is for just everyone, male or female, and taught Tobias many dishes.  Not long after, Tobias coaxed（勸誘） Grandma to let him help in cooking dinner. He performed（表現）so well that eventually Grandma passed onto him the title " main chef（主廚）of the family ". Tasting Tobias' dishes has been a joy to everyone at home.  Lately, Grandma was diagnosed（診斷） with diabetes（糖尿病）and high blood pressure（高血壓）,that means she has to stay away from savoury（鹹味）and sweet food. As instructed by the doctor, she should not take any sugar or salt at all. Tobias follows closely. Now, every day she bleats about（絮絮叨叨地抱怨）the bland（淡而無味）tasting dishes.    What would you do if you were Tobias ?   For her health, I’d stick to strict cooking without condiments（調味品）and keep encouraging her that as time goes by, she would get used to that.  To put a balance between mental health and physical health, I’d encourage her by having the whole family taking the same food as hers, and I’d also seek advice from my parents to see how much seasoning（調味）would be appropriate. I’d start to bring down the taste little by little. 

"Should I do anything now ? I really don't want to miss out the intro⋯⋯"  Galen is in the cinema with some friends right now; at long last the test week is over and it is possible to watch a movie with a few classmates, for both relaxation and celebration. The movie earns its reputation（贏得聲譽） in the gripping（吸引人）teaser sequence（片頭）. Not only it is said to be a bantering（開玩笑的） one, but it also recaps（概述） events in previous episodes with stunning footages（絕妙鏡頭）. It is just the highlight of the whole movie and Galen has been anticipating（期望）it for some time.  While giggling（吃吃傻笑）and sniggering（竊笑）with his friends, the light dims（轉暗）. There are some lights by the gap in between the chair and the handle getting into Galen's eyes. That draws the attention of excited Galen. Upon a closer look and an examination by his fingers, he realized that it is a mobile phone, very likely left by someone who was sitting at this very same seat earlier.  Galen immediately recalls his bad experience of dropping his phone out of his pants at a cinema once （從前）. He wanted to go in to pick it up but the staff did not let him to as the following movie started already. He had to wait anxiously till the movie was over and everyone left before he was allowed to go in and search.  Feeling pity for the one who left his phone but at the same time not wanting to miss the most exciting part of the movie, Galen is figuring what is more important.   What would you do if you were Galen?  I would leave the phone on and if the owner called up, I would tell him the phone was safe with me and I would return it after the show.  I would simply run to the nearest staff at top speed and hand him or her the phone and dash back（衝回）to my seat. A little sacrifice would make me guilt free（沒罪惡感）.