The bitter taste of un-civilization

 

I am 21 years old and my parents still treat me like a chicken (Oh ya I know!..Its the most common single child syndrome). But one fine day, things did change and I was asked to go to the post office for a not-so-important work to be done.

This not-so-important work was to get an envelope weighed, and get a stamp for it. Simple as it seems..but then..it was the first and worst (I guess, I should also say it would be the last) feat of mine in a post office.

Though I didn’t know much about the timings, I did figure out that most govt. offices close by 5. So, I made plans and left home around 4 in the evening. But little did I know I would meet a friend on the way. This friend whose name is not let out due to silly reasons (*winks at the friend*) is the one I hadn’t met for months and she is as loquacious as me. Oh ya..needless to say, we kept talking till I realized it was 4:40. Half-heartedly concluding the chat, I left to the post office (Thankfully, it is jus a street away from my place).

There was a lady around 45 yrs old, sitting in front of a computer, posing as if she was coding something which was a combo of  Java,VB,.Net and what not (well..she did look THAT serious!!). Since I’d a work at hand, I just chucked the instant mockery that popped inside my mind. This poor lady, who looked as though she had a project to submit tomorrow, didn’t even notice my presence. And, that’s when it all started.

Me: Excuse me.

Lady: No reaction.

A solid 10 seconds later.

Me: Excuse me?

She is still not looking away from the goddamn computer. But for once I didn’t lose my patience.

’The most polite me’: Excuuuse meee?

She turned towards me and gave me what I totally didn’t expect!

“ENNA MA?? CHUMMA..APO LENTHU..ENNA VENUM UNAKU???..INGA ONNUM KADAYATHU PO!!!!”

Gosh!! I was so taken aback. That was the only time in my life I was so shocked, that I’d no words. I didn’t know if I was shooed, insulted, humiliated or kidded. All that I knew was, she was the most un-civilized person I’ve ever come across and wasn’t worth talking to.

I’d just one thought when I left that place without saying a word – she didn’t even budge to listen to me, but what if I’d come to tell her that her loved one had met with an accident?

No! I’m not being brutal. It is just the outburst of my fury for being insulted for no reason at all!