slow in Singapore

I recently injured my ankle and have been walking around rather slowly as a result.

and truth betold, it’s scary to be walking slowly, especially when I’m out and about at peak hours.

you know people are right behind you, raring to get off the bus while you slowly lower yourself down the steps.

you know they’re impatient to step off the escalator, but you’re blocking their way and you wonder if they’ll push you forward and cause you to slip.

in their rush to and from work, people brush past you in all sorts of ways as they manoeuvre around you, this sole person shuffling along right in their path.

children are especially hazardous, as they run and jump about without looking to see if they may crash into someone. their movements are unpredictable too; a kid that seems out of harm’s way now may careen into you in the next second.

and this is how the elderly folk who aren’t too mobile probably feel every time they go out – it makes me fear growing old. i have an ankle guard on my leg, which many have mistaken as a bandage, yet all the people pushing past me because i’m slow don’t seem to particularly care that they may hurt me or cause me to fall.

someone once suggested that senior citizen concessions on public transport be extended to peak hours as well, but you know, discouraging the elderly from being out at peak hours is really for their own safety and well being. besides, no old person in their right mind would want to put themselves through the slight bouts of panic that i experience to and fro from work each day, simply because everyone else around me seems so fast in comparison.