I hate that period of time when you wake up realising that it's almost dusk. That melancholy feeling you get when the day is almost over and night is coming soon. It's even more difficult when this happens after you spend the whole day catching up on lost sleep.
I remembered crying stupidly for no reason when they're telecasting National Day parade live on TV and I can hear the fighter planes returning to their base. It was the evening after I came home in the early morning after a trip to KL with a group of friends. I crashed in immediately after emptying the bag of dirty clothes in the washing maching and didn't wake up till evening. That was when I started crying.
This has been happening since I was a kid. Seeing everyone sleeping after a tiring trip across the causeway, I'd usually have this feeling of utter misery and hopeless depression.
That's what I'm experiencing now. Oh the outing was great. The barbeque went well and The Hubby's friends all turned out in full force, with wives, kids, tents and ice coolers in tow. We almost couldn't get our pit and thanks to hours of Customer Service courses, I managed to keep my cool when confronted with an unpleasant situation.
Two families got there first. Mine and another of his close buddy. As the pit was directly under the morning sun, we decided to dump our stuff at the shelter nearby and spend the next hour trying to fix the goalposts for the kids (and the kids above age 30). As family by family joined us and the group got bigger, we decided to progress to the pit about 10 steps away to prepare for the evening.
This was when we saw a couple placing their cooler and food there. We thought they're just resting. Then, the wife started to unpack. While the guys were figuring what to do, I went to the wife and asked her this:
"Excuse me, you guys are using the place?"
Girl turned and said "Yes?!" It was something in the tone of her voice that made me stepped back.
"Did you guys book the pit?"
"YES!!!" Her eyes were so huge, I could've sworn it would popped out if she willed it to.
I said "Ok" and walked away.
I was seething with the way she responded to me but I managed to keep calm, only to blow off steam in front of the other wives. I mean, she don't have to be so defensive about it.
Hubby and gang decided to find the nearest AXS machine to print the receipt as proof. However, before they came back, the couple left in a huff after rounds of phone calls. The girl actually came back to me but instead of apologising, she confessed that headquarters have confirmed that the pit was booked by a "malay" guy. I asked if she kept the receipt but she said she threw it away. Then she said that her husband is very, very pissed off by the whole thing and that they decided to leave.
Well, I can put myself in her shoes. I'd be pissed off too. But as this is an event that involves logistics, food, people and feelings, it is important to have everything in black and white. All I know is that if I were the one booking the pit and I didn't have the receipt, I'd have all of hell to pay but since the fault lies with my hubby or maybe the machine, I learned to just shut up and get on with life.
Everyone didn't sleep. We didn't need to. Only the kids. But they managed an average of two hours and woke at midnight. It was hot and the aeroplanes roaring above didn't help matters.
The outing was a success and the kids had the time of their life. We were dead tired and I fought the melancholy by trying to create something for dinner.
Next time, we're definitely going to a chalet. There's air con, comfortable beds, no sand, no irritating people claiming the place is theirs and best of all, no roaring airplanes 20cm above your head.
