The recent robbery has turned me into a paranoid nut.
It was dusk and I was driving along a lonely street in a residential area. I looked into the rear mirror and saw a motorcyclist behind me. He picked up speed and began to overtake me. My brain sent out a red alert and steered my body into fight or flight position.
As the motorcyclist passed me, he glanced at me. Then, he stopped at the side of the road. I hit the panic button. I stepped on the accelerator and swerved my car to the middle of the road. As I passed him, our eyes met. He had a strange look in his face. Then, he turned and walked into the house.
Goodness gracious, he lives there??!! If he does, my bizarre behaviour must have shocked him as much as he had scared the daylights out of me.
I remember a very different time when paranoia was not in my vocabulary. I was in secondary school. After every volleyball practice, I would ride the bus home. When I got off the bus, it would be past 8pm. I had to walk past a dark sawmill with logs piled up high on both sides of the road. Wearing my T-shirt and shorts, I had always reached home safely.
Sadly, today, children do not have the freedom to do what I had done without facing danger or even death. They can’t even walk to the crowded and brightly-lit night market without the fear of being abducted, abused, tortured and murdered.
Yes, the world has changed. But, has it changed for the better? In today’s world of scientific magic and technological wizardry, are we better off?
If I could live my life again, I don’t want to go into space or walk on the moon. What I want to do is to ride the bus, walk past a dark sawmill and reach home in one piece.
It was dusk and I was driving along a lonely street in a residential area. I looked into the rear mirror and saw a motorcyclist behind me. He picked up speed and began to overtake me. My brain sent out a red alert and steered my body into fight or flight position.
As the motorcyclist passed me, he glanced at me. Then, he stopped at the side of the road. I hit the panic button. I stepped on the accelerator and swerved my car to the middle of the road. As I passed him, our eyes met. He had a strange look in his face. Then, he turned and walked into the house.
Goodness gracious, he lives there??!! If he does, my bizarre behaviour must have shocked him as much as he had scared the daylights out of me.
I remember a very different time when paranoia was not in my vocabulary. I was in secondary school. After every volleyball practice, I would ride the bus home. When I got off the bus, it would be past 8pm. I had to walk past a dark sawmill with logs piled up high on both sides of the road. Wearing my T-shirt and shorts, I had always reached home safely.
Sadly, today, children do not have the freedom to do what I had done without facing danger or even death. They can’t even walk to the crowded and brightly-lit night market without the fear of being abducted, abused, tortured and murdered.
Yes, the world has changed. But, has it changed for the better? In today’s world of scientific magic and technological wizardry, are we better off?
If I could live my life again, I don’t want to go into space or walk on the moon. What I want to do is to ride the bus, walk past a dark sawmill and reach home in one piece.
