Extended Services?

It was a typical afternoon at the shop that I was working in on Monday. The Dispenser was doing stock count at the dispensary, the Supervisor was arranging the shopfront according to the new planogram for November, and I was hanging about with Kazuo Ishiguro's book in my hand. A customer walked in and naturally, as everyone else was busy doing something else, I went to the counter to serve.

How may I help you, I asked.

"I have been feeling quite stressed recently, and it's affecting my sleep." Mind starts to point towards Nytol. But she went on. "My mind is racing even when I am asleep and when I get up in the morning, I feel tired." Tonic plus Nytol, and possibly Bach's remedy? "It's been a while now and I find that the tiredness is showing." She points at her face. "I was wondering if there is something you can recommend for me to take..." Yes? I asked. "To reduce the appearance of dark circles under my eyes?"

.........

It took four years of university, one year of Pre-Reg training and three months' experience as a Pharmacist to resist raising my eyebrows and to stop my lips from turning up at the corners.

I wanted to tell her that in order for you to reduce the appearances of dark circles under your eyes you have to invest in a good eye cream, pat it in gently with the second-last finger and not rub it in, because the skin around your eyes are delicate. If you gently press the spots on both sides of your temple, under your ears, and on your collar bone, repeating it three to four times, it encourages lymph drainage, but it must be done regularly. You will also have to invest on eye masks that you put on at least twice a week, and a good under-eye concealer that dooes not cake or crease upon application, and has good lasting power.

I could have told her all that but instead, I said, "This is something that you may wish to speak to your beautician about as they will be able to tailor a suitable regimen according to your needs and advise you on the right products to use. Try reducing caffeine intake and drinking more water, too."

Because we were told from day one to act within our competencies.

Lesson of the Day

I have to stop thinking people are nice. Or not nice, even. Whenever I meet someone they inadvertently get categorised into one of two groups: To go near and to be as far away as possible. Like the people I meet at work. She comes over, introduces herself to me, we talked and we shared a few laughs. So I think, hmm... this isn't such a bad day after all. And the following week she comes back and bites my ankle.

There's this other girl whom I thought... hmmm... how should I put it? Well, let's just say, I was pretty convinced that she is interested in her own kind, if you get what I mean. The first few times, in fact all of our previous encounters have short and not-so-sweet, and our conversations were as brief and formal as they can be. Then all of a sudden, a knight in shining armour came 'round and took the lead to a tribe of (gossipy) women, and I witnessed the swiftest change there is to a woman in heat love: her eyes gone misty, she started smiling rather than laugh out I-can-see-down-your-throat loud, she laughed at all his jokes, she grinned whenever he walks past, she... ok, I think that's enough for now. Anyhow, she didn't use to treat me like a colleague, let alone her Superior, and then all of a sudden there were all the how are you *smile* oh I'm so sorry I'm in your way *blush* see ya again soon *hand wave* And I thought, hmm... maybe she ain't that bad after all.

Anyways, my point is to say, you never know for sure what these people are like, not even after you've met them, sometimes not even after you've known or worked with them for a while. I guess the moral of the story is in order not to get hurt, or to prevent me from throttling someone, the key is to keep a safe distance and to stay there.

The End.

Classic

So Near Yet So Far

Possibility

Maybe one day, when I've summoned enough courage, earned enough cash, had enough of being a money-making tool... I'll chuck my registration and RP certificate into a massive big bag, hang it up on the railing of a deserted train stop, turn and walk away, never once looking back.

Maybe one day.

Because life is

Complicated as is

Turn wherever

melancholy hits

What is a mind

That whrls and buzzes

But the nooks and turns

incomprehensible

To others?

She speaks

But in a language incomprehensible to others

Like a butterfly

She pays but a short visit

Before fluttering off to a world of her own

Like sand

That slips through one's finger

When gripped too firmly

Like the spectrum of the rainbow

Admired from far

But vanishes when one tries to reach out

...