昔日文章

" Should I stay or should I go ? Mom and Dad expect me to be waiting for them with dishes（餸菜） ordered."  This past Sunday after attending Mass, Alfred was on his way to the parish office to fetch（接）his younger brother from Sunday school（主日學）. That has been a usual routine（慣常程序）since many weeks ago. He has to pick up his brother and rush to get a table in a restaurant nearby so his parents can come and have lunch immediately after helping with selling the Kung Kau Po（公教報）.  Just a few steps coming out from the classroom, with little Alvin holding Alfred's hand tightly, he saw another boy about the same age of his brother weeping（哭泣）. Alfred quickly came to give help. Upon inquiring（詢問）, the boy said in broken up（斷續） sentences that he did not see his mother coming. Alfred asked little Alvin if that boy was a classmate of his, he was not sure.  Alfred tried to calm down（安撫） the frightened child, it was totally unsuccessful. The more Alfred tried to console（安慰）him, the more panic（驚慌）he got. Then looking around, he saw no one there, the Sunday school teacher left with the assumption（以為）that Alfred was the boy's brother.  Alfred wanted to stay with the poor boy but if he lingered（逗留）, it would be hard to get a table. Everyone seemed to be coming out for lunch all at the same time somehow ! He did not want to fail what he promised his parents.   What would you do if you were Alfred ?  I would wait till someone comes for the boy and would suggest takeaways（外賣）from any fast food chains if my family could not get hold of a table to eat. I needed to set a good example for my younger brother and my parents should be proud of me.  Instead of waiting with the boy, I would bring the little boy to my parents to let them know what was happening. There would be three pairs of helping hands to help locate the missing mom, take care of my younger brother as well as to get a table. Division of tasks（分工）would speed things up. 

“Does this man really need my help? Seems that he will tumble（滾落）any second, but he didn't ask for assistance（協助）. Moreover, I am in such a rush!”  Godwin always leaves home at the very last minute for school and every morning he has to rush. First he dashes（趕緊跑）all the way from his place to the MTR station, he darts across（衝過）the street no matter what the traffic light shows. Then he races（飛馳）down the escalator, bearing the risk of running over someone. The last move is to squeeze （塞入）himself onto the train during rush hours（交通擁擠時間）when he goes to school, like many other students do.  Now the train is arriving at the station, Godwin needs to get off. In the split of a second（一剎那）, he sprints（飛奔去趕）to the escalator getting ready to rush up. But while he is hurrying, a middle-aged man blocks his way. This man does not look old at all, perhaps in his fifties. But both of his legs are so bended（彎曲）that they form an O shape. Each of his steps is slow and shaky. This man carries a walking stick and is approaching the escalator. Godwin is thinking if he should slow down to help or not.  Wha t would you do i f you were Godwin?  I would not stop to bother a man whom I would not consider（認為）as someone in great need. If he needed assistance, he would have voiced out. I would just go ahead of him to make my way.   I would slow down to go after him. I would not say anything but in case he tripped（絆倒）, I would be right behind to give him a hand. That might slow me down for 30 seconds, but I would be willing to do so. 

“I need to sit down so I can write on my homework book, but this tired pregnant （懷孕）lady seems that she can fall down any minute⋯⋯oh lady, please do not look at me with begging eyes（乞求的眼神）, move somewhere , now everyone is looking at me⋯⋯”  It is already after nine at night and Jennifer just finished her ballet lesson. She is having a lot of extra practice for the show upcoming this weekend. On one hand, she is excited to be one of the performers, on the other, she is worried that all these nightly rehearsals will eat into（花掉）her study time. To make up （彌補）, she has been doing her homework on the train. She is lucky that she can get on MTR from the Hung Hom Station and sit all the way to Tuen Mun, which is the very first stop to the very last. Sitting down, with her schoolbag on her lap（膝部）, she can get so much done because the ride is over an hour.  Suddenly at the Tsim Sha Tsui Station a big crowd pushes into the train. There are many people holding onto the poles and a pregnant lady with the tummy of the size of a water melon stands right in front of Jennifer. Usually Jennifer will stand up without a second thought（不需思索）. But right now she has so much to do before arriving home, and she cannot write anything while standing up. A scene（情景）comes to her mind（浮現腦海）.  Recently there is this cartoon that has been passed around numerous times through Whatsapp and Facebook about a lame（跛腳的）young lady offering her seat to an old man. It is touching indeed since the ride is five hours and no other healthier person is willing to do so. The main message is that we should be ready to offer what we also need.     What would you do if you were Jennifer ?   I would ask the person next to me if he / she would be willing to offer the seat to the pregnant lady as I was not feeling at my best（不太舒服）.  I would offer my seat to the pregnant lady while mentally（心裡）work on my homework or do some revision first. This would be a little sacrifice I’d be happy to make.

“Should I offer my seat to this old man or not? What if he insists he doesn't need it if I stand up ? Will I embarrass（使尷尬）him? Will I embarrass myself ? Maybe he looks old but actually runs faster than me⋯.”  Jared is sitting inside an MTR train heading to school. His sight is focusing（聚焦）on this old man's body that is shrinking （縮細）, obviously due to his age. It is very hard to tell how old he is by his look, but he does have deep wrinkles（皺紋）on his face, neck and hands, as well as sagged（下垂）skin all over. Jared is debating whether or not to offer his seat to him.  Jared once had a very embarrassing experience while giving his seat to a needy person. That was an old lady with thin narrow shaking（震動）legs, with the look of aged eighty or more. Instead of being thanked, the old lady exclaimed（呼喊）on the top of her voice（以最大的嗓音） that she did not need help from anyone as she could still stand and hold onto the pole（杆）. Jared was flustered（慌亂） and did not know how to react. He could only look away while the lady kept screaming. Obviously the lady did not want to be taken（視為）as “old and weak”, though she no doubt belongs to that category （類項）. Jared was afraid he had hurt her feelings（感受）.  What would you do if you were Jared ?  I would ask the old man if he would like to take my seat and respect his choice. If he’d say yes, I’d stand up. If no, I’d keep sitting.  I’d pretend that I were getting off the train and loudly invite the old man to sit down so no one else would take my seat, then I’d walk away to the far end of another section（節） of the train so no one could tell I have offered seat to one I believed who was in need.