btw, how rude of me not to thank Fang and Sun for condescending to spend yesterday with me *grins*. thanks for the cake, the present (The Road Within: Travelers' Tales), the pink flower (!) and most importantly, your companionship

i'm sure you have come across deaf people who leave cards that reveal their disability, hoping that you will buy soft toys from them? then you will politely decline because why bother to spend money on a miserable small item that is ridiculously over-priced anyway? and that you may be vaguely irritated by the intrusion becos you lost your train of thought while he did that and are thrown off-track as to what you want to say

anyway, i met one such individual (Vladimir) tonight. and of course, tried to engage him with whatever little sign language i know

he's Russian and will be staying here for the remaining 2 weeks and 5 days. really curious as to whether he will earn enough money eventually to pay for his air-fare and stuff. if you have any inkling of what's happening here, do enlighten me, ya?

knowledge is a double-edged sword. i didn't see Vladimir as a hovering fly that i brush away absent-mindedly as i would normally have done. I saw him as an able-bodied typical 27 year-old who has dreams and aspirations like the rest of us but has to give them up and resort to soliciting for income(?)funds(?) from strangers who don't even bother to throw him a second glance.

why is God so good to me? (okay, i'm a Buddhist and believe in God, but let's not get hung-up about technicalities here *grins*) why on earth do i deserve to be born, with all my limbs functional and all my senses intact?

it may be a good thing to be ignorant and selfish after all. at least, you have peace of mind....