At 7.30am in the morning, where was I going to find another pair of slippers? Usually I could make do with a spoilt item on me till I get a replacement, like an umbrella, torn garment, undone clasp on clothes, but a broken slipper? I could not walk in it.
I had to remove it and walk with one foot bare. Walked to the nearest bench and started calling for a cab.
Darn, no cab twice in a row!
Then came the frightening part: I had a stomachache!
The only good thing about the ordeal was that I was quite near to the MRT station. Was torn between continuing to call for a cab and making a hundred-metre sprint to the toilet. After a while, decided that the nature's call was irrevocable, so I had to brave myself up for a short walk with one foot bare. I thought I held it up quite well, until it was obvious to me that people were staring at my foot!
After my business at the MRT station toilet, I went back to the void deck I was waiting for a cab. Tried calling a few times again, and no cab was available again!
I decided to try my luck at the shops nearby, hoping to buy a pair of slippers. Truth be told, the thought of grabbing a pair of old slippers at the residents' flats did cross my mind. That's what desperation does to you.
At 8.30am in the morning, what kind of shop would open except for ... a sports footwear shop selling inline skates and trekking shoes!
The kind proprietoress helped me find a pair of 'girly-looking' Northface trekking shoes that cost *gasp* $99, but being such kind people, she asked her husband to give me a discount for my 'emergency purchase' and knocked off a good $19 off the shoes!
We chatted a bit about our kids after they knew that I had broken my slipper while sending my kid to school. They mentioned that their 3 boys were from the same school too and gave me some advice about choosing the Express/Normal stream should the child get to choose.
Incidentally, I think the male boss was an inline-skating trainer for the school I was doing contract-teaching for about ten years ago, but as I was in a hurry to leave, I didn't have the time to reminisce about the nice old memories when his trainers taught me how to skate.
Well, to think I thought nothing could be worse than hearing from the horse's mouth that your kid did not bring her electronic dictionary to school for her Higher Mother Tongue paper, I could only sum up the morning adventures as 'Murphy's Law at work' with a silver lining. And I managed to get home before William had to go out for work by 9.15am!
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