Aunty Blur

Aunty Blur (not her real name) is a Chinese woman of about 70. She went to the Cashier's counter at the hospital and asked if she could pay. The Cashier told her she had to wait for her number to be called. In this time and age, little old ladies who did not understand numbers are a rarity. Aunty Blur is one of them.

"My son is not here with me," she lamented. (This was supposed to explain her trouble with the numbers.)

Now I'm a kindly old soul, am I not? I explained the system to her. She was too distracted to listen, disturbed as she was by the absence of her son and whatever will she do all alone at the mercy of the hospital.

Puan Aisha, aged 54 (who sat next to her) was the most patient patient I've seen. In simple Malay, she explained to the distraught woman, one word at a time and strangely got her attention.

I liked scenes like this. When you are in trouble, racism is the last thing on your mind. All of us, whatever our race is that close to meeting our Makers so what's the point in harboring all manner of racial prejudices?

Sitting next to me and waiting for our numbers to be called was Puan 65. (not her real name) Now Puan 65 is sixty-five years old (obviously) and had had a mastectomy two years ago. Since she had entered the menopausal stage her hormone medication was different from mine. You will recall that I'm on Tamoxifen which is prescribed for pre-menopausal patients. Post menopausal patients are prescribed something called "AI" which is known to rob you of your calcium. She was here to have her bones checked. 

We exchanged notes, she and I. (She spoke fluent English by the way.) She was especially depressed when she lost her hair.

"At least you have your tudong to cover you so nobody knew. For us, people stare once we start wearing head scarves." I whined.

"What tudong? I never wear tudongs before." She added as we laughed. I liked her. She had a keen sense of humor. We could have been best buddies at another time, at another place.

By the way, I was there for my follow-up with the oncologist.