Sunday, September 04, 2005

Tulip Hearts Day sanny @ 4:11 PM

Today is Tulip Hearts Day and I went about selling hand-made cocoon tulips for $2 each (very expensive according to Niki), on behalf of the Children's Cancer Foundation. Oh have I ever mentioned that Tulips are my favourite flowers (like the smell of tuberose lily though)I'm actually weaned on Tulip pictures on numerous tissue boxes that were always put in the family car and Jakarta being a former colony of Holland I suppose Tulips feature quite frequently in ads etc. Anyway. Being a volunteer wasn't as breezy as I thought it was. First, there were, of course, as is the norm here, people who avoided you like lepers even though we're carrying such a cute colourful bouquet (or maybe they mistook me for you-know-what since I'm pale as a sheet and they thought it's still the Lunar 7th month). And even amongst those who donated there were some who're incredibly calculative (still, the grudging daddy donated to pacify his daughter, so...ok whatever, he's forgiven...somewhat) . The type I hate most (worse: can't show that you're pissed, must smile, must smile! Oh gawd it's so hard plastering a smile on your face when you're clearly frustrated) are those couples whose boyfriends are kiam siap like hell, then give you that kind of dodo-can't-you-see-I'm-not-Santa-Claus, don't-you-dare-ask-me-for-donations kind of face...好没风度！Arrggh!!! I can't stand scrooges on these kind of matters, especially guys. Guys as a rule should be generous and big-hearted, be it to family, gf and others. The least they can do is refuse politely. Ok for all I know maybe they donate loads to the NKF and other charity shows. Whatever. Secondly, it rained today of all days...well of course the rain's a welcome relief from the sweltering heat but this made it even harder to sell the tulips on the open streets. In the end I went back to my neighbourhood shopping mall as my shift's nearing to an end (plus it's raining so might as well spend the remaining time asking my regular shop aunties and uncles)...turns out that the regular aunties and uncles aren't present 'cos it's Sunday and their stand-ins are manning the shop instead, bummer. Still, some shoppers voluntarily called me over to donate...which is why I like my neighbourhood shopping mall...the people are much nicer, see? Well negatives aside, I did have a fulfilling time imo, and I get a free T-shirt and a bottle of neWater (er, not something to shout about but the T-shirt's quite cute...the neWater...had a sip and decided to stop drinking it. Yes I'm still prejudiced and 'act hygienic' ) ...I felt a bit sorry that I didn't amass enough donations though, hope that the kids do get help nonetheless. Would I do it again next year? Probably I should just save myself and people the trouble and pre-order tulips or something, conditions permitting. Ah well, at least I had a nice day and generally the World Cup qualifiers went the way I wanted, results-wise, so I'm quite contented in that sense. Tomorrow it's OSIM (Oh Shit It's Monday - courtesy of cemel) again, so I'm going to sleep today away. comments ♥ Put your finger in the pie ♥