Eleven
Saw a boy on the train wearing his serviceman uniform. Not a boy really, maybe 20 years old. 6 feet tall, typical buff Chinese Singaporean build. And no it wasn't that I was attracted or anything. So it's not that kind of post.
He was standing by the door and as I looked up about to get off at my stop, I noticed that he was glaring at everyone and no one in particular. I thought that curious, but then I saw him clenching his fist by his waist unconsciously. That's when I saw it just as I left the train. He had an 11th finger. A skinny complete finger stuck to his thumb on the wrong side. It wasn't as wide as thumb, more like a pinkie finger.
It just had me thinking all the way back to my apartment. If you had an 11th finger on you hand, how would you see life differently? My mind went in all directions imaging what it would be like in his shoes.
I mean, it's not a handicap nor an instantly obvious deformity. Would you be cool with it? My next thought would be, Oh my God, it would be so cool to play the piano with an extra finger! But then again, would you practice moving you extra digit? I would.
But my bet is that he would have a whole complex about it. Not being like other kids. Trying to go out on a date and holding someone's hand. Being stared at. Would I have daydreamed of having it removed? Or would it make me feel special? Given his age, I guess he was going to keep it.
Don't most parents pray that their kids have a complete set of appendages and digits? My mom told me that was her thought every time she got pregnant. So what it you got that, plus one? How would you explain to your child why he's got an extra one? Would you think it was your fault? Would you have sleepless nights thinking if you should have it removed or not? Would you tell your kid he had magical powers that come from it? Or that he swallowed his twin in the womb and all that was left was his finger.
As a kid, my siblings and I used to go to the Christmas carnival and they would have freak shows. Where for 20 pesos, you could enter some wooden tent and ogle at live-chicken eating "cannibals", mermaids with rubber tails and more often than not, real Siamese twins. Some years there would be these incomplete twins, where one person had 3 arms or legs, or an arm growing out of his side. The posters outside would proclaim them as scary monsters to entertain the kids. But they always looked quite sad and bored. Like a zoo animal in his cage being circled by kids and their parents. What did they do after that? Play and watch tv with their folks? Or did their folks give them away from the provinces to make a few extra bucks in the city?
So this is my weird random Christmas time memory. Rollercoasters, hot dogs, haunted mansions, giant slides and the random freakshow. Funny how you just remember things like that but see them in a whole new light.
He was standing by the door and as I looked up about to get off at my stop, I noticed that he was glaring at everyone and no one in particular. I thought that curious, but then I saw him clenching his fist by his waist unconsciously. That's when I saw it just as I left the train. He had an 11th finger. A skinny complete finger stuck to his thumb on the wrong side. It wasn't as wide as thumb, more like a pinkie finger.
It just had me thinking all the way back to my apartment. If you had an 11th finger on you hand, how would you see life differently? My mind went in all directions imaging what it would be like in his shoes.
I mean, it's not a handicap nor an instantly obvious deformity. Would you be cool with it? My next thought would be, Oh my God, it would be so cool to play the piano with an extra finger! But then again, would you practice moving you extra digit? I would.
But my bet is that he would have a whole complex about it. Not being like other kids. Trying to go out on a date and holding someone's hand. Being stared at. Would I have daydreamed of having it removed? Or would it make me feel special? Given his age, I guess he was going to keep it.
Don't most parents pray that their kids have a complete set of appendages and digits? My mom told me that was her thought every time she got pregnant. So what it you got that, plus one? How would you explain to your child why he's got an extra one? Would you think it was your fault? Would you have sleepless nights thinking if you should have it removed or not? Would you tell your kid he had magical powers that come from it? Or that he swallowed his twin in the womb and all that was left was his finger.
As a kid, my siblings and I used to go to the Christmas carnival and they would have freak shows. Where for 20 pesos, you could enter some wooden tent and ogle at live-chicken eating "cannibals", mermaids with rubber tails and more often than not, real Siamese twins. Some years there would be these incomplete twins, where one person had 3 arms or legs, or an arm growing out of his side. The posters outside would proclaim them as scary monsters to entertain the kids. But they always looked quite sad and bored. Like a zoo animal in his cage being circled by kids and their parents. What did they do after that? Play and watch tv with their folks? Or did their folks give them away from the provinces to make a few extra bucks in the city?
So this is my weird random Christmas time memory. Rollercoasters, hot dogs, haunted mansions, giant slides and the random freakshow. Funny how you just remember things like that but see them in a whole new light.