Chivalry

Once, in secondary school, my friend told me a story of how she'd once seen a nanyang girl in the rain without an umbrella, when a hwachong boy stepped forward and sheltered her under his umbrella.
For some reason,this story stuck with me, and i often brought it up in conversations when i lamented about how the levels of chivalry have slid drastically in people in general nowadays.

That's not to say that i haven't encountered any gentlemanly guys, on the contrary, there are those who will offer to carry your stuff for you, offer to buy you a drink, pull out your chair, hold open the door for you, or even just let you go first in a queue, all small things that always strike me as really lovely gestures.

Still, this only happens with people I've known for a while or who are in my church or who have some relation to me. (of course this isn't to say that their acts of gallantry are in anyway discounted)

But i still really wanted the day where a perfect stranger would perform a chivalrous act that would convince me that spontaneous gentlemen still exists. And here's where my story begins.

So, after day 3 of orientation, i received a text from my dad saying that he could pick me up from school. And so when my friend asked if she could borrow my umbrella, i didn't hesitate to give it to her, since i assumed i'd only have to run in the rain for a few seconds to get to my dad's car.

Then, my dad called to ask me to go and wait for him at the bus stop.

And it was pouring. And i had no umbrella.

Thankfully, I had a friend who could share an umbrella with me as far as the junction, but after that i was all on my own in the pouring rain.

So i stood, waiting for the green man to flash, trying to look like i didn't care that my new bag was getting wet, and then getting worried about that and trying to look pathetic and cold.

And just before the green man turned on, a complete stranger from the school came up and said "Do you want to shelter under my umbrella?"

Of course, i accepted and had a dry crossing, with my mysterious saviour, who was from a different orientation clan and from clementi town secondary originally. Unfortunately i didn't get his name, but i just want to say

Dear Stranger,

although you'll probably never read this, thanks a billion and one for sharing your umbrella and salvaging the reputation on the 21st century male.