Two Minutes to Go

It was a strange experience, this. I was on my way home, at Dhoby Ghout MRT station when a few people whizzed by from behind me.

“Don’t run!” the woman shouted to the three kids in front of her, herself running, trying hard to catch up with them.

Clack, clack sounds were heard. I turned around, and there was another woman running behind them.

I looked up and saw on the information screen that the next train was due in two minutes. “So,” thought I, “these people are running to catch the train. I wonder what’s their urgency.”

These people weren’t walking fast, they weren’t jogging either. These people were running.

And just as I thought the madness over when the woman guilty of the clacking ran past, she took off her shoes and started running. Took off her shoes!

Imagine the scene; at the front of the pack is a woman running after her kids, pleading with them to stop running. Not far behind her is a middle-aged man and a few students. And behind these is a woman wearing a dress, heels in hands, running barefoot down the escalator.

Jesus Christ, what’s the world coming to?