tire story

by

in


On route from Tokyo to Narita

I have a reason for lacking in my blog posting these past few weeks. That is — pure laziness. But after this weekend, I’ll have a much better reason for not blogging. That is — 40 hours of work + 15 hours of grad school + the long commute from downtown to UTD. I doubt I’d have time to eat much less write snippets of nothingness online.

Then again, I always find time to do useless things while neglecting important tasks. Hmm… maybe I should take “prioritizing” off of the list of personal attributes on my resume. 😛

So Christmas and New Year’s went off quite uneventfully but quite memorably. I never thought I’d be content to sit in an empty and cold apartment waiting the whole day, but I was, somehow. I guess that’s what hope does. It calms your restlessness despite your natural urge to change things about yourself and what surrounds you. Hope for something better, hope for a surprise, hope for a miracle… isn’t that what drives life in general? Even when such unexpected disaster like a tsunami happens, it’s amazing to see the amount of effort that is going into rebuilding things. So maybe there’s still hope for humanity despite all the hatred and warring among nations.

One of my tires blew out today as I accidentally swerved onto a curb to get out of the way of a crazy driver. Pulling into the parking lot, a shabby looking man came up to me and offered to help me change my tire. It’s probably one’s natural instinct to be alarmed at a stranger’s offer to help now, considering how many cases of crime often start at such a scene. I politely said “no, thanks”, yet eventually, I let him help me. Unfortunately I was missing a jack and ended up having to wait for help anway, but I got a chance to talk to the guy. He told me that he was asking for donations for a church that spreads the gospel to drug addicts and gives them food and shelter, and somewhat proudly admitted that he had been one a while ago. “I’m tired of being out there, being sick, being chased by cops, and now I’m just out here to help people, because that’s what God wants me to do.”

Honestly, I don’t know how much truth is in his words. You see, I’ve been warned too many times by parents, society, and news to trust people at their words now. Yet I choose to believe him, as I watched he and his friends walk away with my humble donation at the bottom of their little box.

Sometimes, even if things are untrue, if it doesn’t hurt you, wouldn’t you rather turn a blind eye and believe there’s still goodness and hope in the world?


Comments

10 responses to “tire story”

  1. That’s a tough question. I used to turn a blind eye and believe there’s still goodness and hope in the world, but nowadays… Way too cynical to do that.

  2. It takes me a long time to finish your entry today. English is still a big annoyance to me.

    However, today’s story is attractive, at least for me. I always show an attitude of open hostility to anyone unknown. No talk with unknown people. And now I even feel difficult to communicate with everyone around my life. No thinking, no words, and no idea of how to start a conversation. Maybe this is the result of my self-guard. Sigh…

    BTW: Study hard and you’ll find lots of fun.

  3. I guess it is never a bad idea to think defensively, as long as it does not come to an extreme. No need to blame yourself for that.

    By the way Julie, I got a favour to ask. I’m thinking of setting up my own blog, but having a hard time to find a nice host/webspace. Do you mind recommend one (like the one you’re using for “imissme”)? Appreciated ! =)

  4. Y~hey, stranger 🙂 haven’t seen u in a while
    leo~I know what you mean, I try to be open without being too gullible, but there’s a fine line in between I guess.
    Jun~the service I use is from 1and1.com. Actually I’m not paying for it because I got a deal that lets me have 3 years of free hosting, but I’m quite satisfied with it except for sometimes the speed isn’t too great. but try it out if you’d like!

  5. Everyone should read Julie’s blog because she is gr8. But you all are already here so you already know that! But she is the best. Really!

  6. alex~still in that hyperactive mood, huh? 😛

  7. Hey, I’ve never left! Just because I don’t comment as much doesn’t mean I’m not reading. 😀

    My turn now. Haven’t seen YOU in a while! You want proof? Here: http://english.blog-city.com/read/766569.htm

    ^_^

  8. fine… so your grammar’s better than mine 😛 glad to see you anyway ^_^

  9. Am I being paranoid, or are you upset? I’ve had the exact same response from others I tried to correct. “Fine, so your grammar’s better than mine.” The only difference is, they also said, “Big deal.”

    I hate to lose friends like that. Please, if you feel even slightly unhappy about this, tell me, and I’ll never do it again.

  10. lol, you are definitely paranoid… it doesn’t take a lot to offend me but this is definitely not one of them 🙂

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