kindness

It's been a roller-coaster of events since i left on a jet plane on Tuesday 3.30 pm Auckland time to come home.

What was supposed to be a 27 hour journey (including a night's layover in a luxurious hotel room) became more than a 3 day anxiety laden stay in Bangkok. Well, it actually wasn't as bad as most people thought it was. All that I've been asked since i touched home soil was "Were you scared?" and honestly, I wasn't. there was nothing terrifying where I was, simply because I was stuck in the hotel rather than the airport. I was frustrated. I missed home so much and the homesickness compounded progressively as time crept and crawled in Bangkok. It drove me to tears when I heard my mum and dad's voices on the phone. I just broke down because I really really really wanted to go home. Anyway, long story short, I wasn't in any actual threat. I was merely desperate to go home. And I had heaps of help from many kind souls. My dad's friend's partner in Bangkok took me out of the airport area, brought me to eat, got me a bus ticket from Bangkok to Hatyai and sent me to the bus station on Thursday evening. My parents met me at Hatyai and if I've never known what relief felt like, I knew it the moment I saw my parents.

If at all, this incident has helped me see the light in a lot of people. It renewed my faith in the goodness of mankind and the credibility of kindness. People are kind. I saw people go out of their way to help complete strangers. I saw people just amalgamate with random people and helped other random people. I saw food being shared, personal handphones passed around to be used, hotel staff from the manager right down to the room cleaners rushing about just doing anything they can to make stranded tourists and guests more comfortable. It was really comforting, amidst all the chaos, watching everyone switch into hero mode.

I have always been a believer in the goodness in people. My first idea of every person is that they're good, unless they make me think otherwise. Some of you may say that people are more willing to help a damsel in distress. Some of you may assume that the helper had ulterior motives. Maybe, maybe not. But at the end of the day, if that person has made my life a little easier at the expense of his/hers, and did not ask for anything in return, I say that person's good.

I've been keeping with the news and all I can say is, I'm SO GLAD i'm home. I wish those who are still stranded there the best of luck and I hope they find their way out soonest possible.