Cogito ergo scribo

Just as i thought everything was back to normal after removing the stitches, i'm faced with a post-surgery problem. Food remnants keep getting stuck in the cavity of the gum where the tooth socket was. Sometimes i just couldn't remove the food remnants no matter how many times i rinsed my mouth.

I had no choice but to pick the food remnants out with a dental pick. It's a difficult task as i need to be really careful not to injure the healing wound. I'm not sure if it's psychological but i have this perpetual feeling that i didn't manage to clean away all the food remnants and they were still there in the cavity. I just hope the gum will grow back quickly to fill up the cavity and end all these hassles.

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Onto an unrelated issue. Reader's Digest conducted a courtesy survey in 35 cities around the globe to find out how polite people are nowadays. The findings show New York City to be the most courteous city, while all Asian cities were at the bottom of the ranking. More disheartening was that out of the 35 cities, Singapore ranked 31 while Kuala Lumpur was 33. So you see, we are generally a bunch of rude people.

Actually i don't find the results surprising at all, especially considering that one of the tests they did was to measure the number of people entering a public building who would hold the door for others walking behind them. I know that in most Western countries, this seems to be a common courtesy, but it's not practiced here in Asian countries. We would just walk into the building with no regards to the strangers behind us and let the door slam right into their faces.

Of course, some may question why holding the door is considered a courteous gesture, as it may be more of a cultural thing. I feel that it may or may not be a question of politeness, but it sure is a kind gesture to be considerate to the people walking behind us. And the meaning of being courteous is in fact "gracious consideration toward others".

When i first returned from overseas, i was still in the habit of holding the door for people walking behind me. What i got in return sometimes were some strange looks on the faces, a stare, or even without a thank you. Many years had passed and i still don't see this kind of civility catching on in our cities, but i still do that, even though in lesser frequence nowadays.

Labels: malaysia, opinion