Yesterday, after finishing a client meeting in town, I was waiting for a cab. The taxi stand had a few people waiting in queue. Soon, it was my turn as a blue taxi came and screeched to a halt in front of me . Absent mindedly I took a step forward not realizing that it was a raised surface. Within seconds, I lost my balance , twisted my foot and fell.
Everything went still as I was falling.. slowly, as though in a dream.
I heard gasps and screams from the people who were standing behind me. "Oh my God", a voice uttered in my head. "It must look really bad for them to scream".
As I stood there, balancing myself with a hand on the taxi, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle. Slowly, my brain started to go into shock as I quickly got hold of myself and somehow managed to sit in the cab. Tears slowly welled up in my eyes .
The cab driver looked shocked and said, "miss, are you ok"?!
I gathered all my courage and managed to say a few words as the pain was slowly making me delusional.
"Yes Uncle", I said in a low voice. "I am ok".
"Aaah, he said,"you must take care of that foot". He quickly took out a medicated Chinese oil and handed it to me. I was holding my foot writhing in pain
"Put it on your foot", he insisted. "the swelling will go down".
I refused but he kept insisting. "Trust me", he said, "this oil is very good. It will help".
Grateful for his concern, I took the oil and started applying it on my foot as the taxi uncle started driving me to my destination.
"You must massage your foot with it", he said showing me the motion on his hand. " I will drive you home and you must put warm water on it, ok!".
I kept massaging my foot during the journey with the Chinese oil. The oil which is made with Chinese herbs is very effective but pungent. Uncle kept coughing because of the smell but didn't complain. After applying it for a few minutes, I thanked him and returned the bottle.
During the journey, tears kept welling up in my eyes. Apart from being extremely embarrassed, I was in utter pain. Thank god for the oil which seemed to control the swelling.
As I reached home and the taxi came to a halt, uncle turned back again and said, "Are you ok to walk?". I nodded as I looked at the meter that read $11. I quickly took out a $20 note and handed it to uncle.
"Keep the change uncle", I said "and thank you for being so nice".
He looked shocked as there is no culture of tipping in Singapore. Even though its not practiced here but tips are usually met with immense gratitude.
Uncle tried to give the change back and I said, "please keep it".
"Thank you . Thank you ,he said with gratitude. "Please put your foot in warm water" . I nodded.
As I got down from the cab, uncle waited till I reached the gate. I slowly limped towards my house and in my mind, I couldn't thank uncle enough.
That evening, after my foot was bandaged and resting, I wrote an appreciation letter to the taxi company commending the driver.
Mr Quek Hong Leong, driver of comfort cab SHC8488M, if you are reading this, Thank you and may God bless you.
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| The Kind cab driver Mr Quek Hong Leong |
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| My swollen foot |
You may remember, that I strongly believe in Guardian Angels, well he was no less than one!