23.7.05
ndp pre-preview.
the public is soooo much more difficult to handle than noisy pri 5 kids. 1stly they want to choose seats. they want to seat at the sides and can come up with all sorts of funny reasons for us to let them have their way (ranging from elderly and kids to..its more windy *duh but then everyone would want the sides). its kind of natural having got tickets, but the fact is that we are supposed to pack them, and fill from bottom up. this bunch of act cool teenage guys who were initially seated right infront asked me to let them go to the top to seat. of course i said no..just sit where you were. but there is strength in numbers.. and in overcoming the opposite sex in this case.. and they were persistent and relentless. the tricks guys have up their sleeves.. old tricks tho, one has seen too many a drama serial. the check-out-the-person's-id-tag-and-start-persuading-her-by-name one.. or the whine-and-use-lots-of-please one.. all wun work on me please. i had all the time in the world to wait for them to give up. (they came rather early so there was no crowd) haha finally one gentlemanly soul said not to '弄她难做人'. kudos to whoever that was.. i mean it was kinda fun to be in the situation cos it did break some monotony ;p but i was kinda glad to get out of it too. oh otherwise i had to call the police. i mean not dial 999 but jus get anyone of the police stationed around. anyone who refuses to cooperate will be thrown out. dunno if they're serious tho.
did i mention this 30 smth yr old lady actually asked me to accompany her all the way to the toilet and back? that's not within our job scope. and usually ppl just ask for directions. but she said she was afraid she wouldnt be able to find her way back to her seat. so anw i did upon delegating my task to someone else. felt like a babysitter while i was with her.
the parade proceeded as per normal. i think i can remember everything in sequence already. got disinterested in the show and started talking to this army guy with the word 'guard' printed on his sleeve. i was curious as to why he was holding this stick-like thing. later found out it was a drill stick carried by only Regimental Sergeant Majors. it opens out like a pair of callipers and has markings on the inside. INTERESTING. so i asked him how come he was a guard AND an RSM.. cannot have 2 ranks right. he told me tt being an RSM was his appointment for ndp and a guard his vocation. AHHH.. the ignorance of being female. oh well...* in addition, his 2 daughters were very very cute.. and i could tell he was a loving dad.. he kept pointing out stuff to them during the parade. fireworks were longer this time (felt cheated for the previous 2 week's pri 5s) and more beeautiful. i'm in awe when i see them. everytime. (thats the plus point in joining ndp) i still like the most the one i name 'golden rain'. it lasts the longest and is always the very last 'spree' of extravagance. but i still dun wanna be like a firework - brilliant but shortlived.
there was quite a long debrief after the crowd dispersed. to trash out the flaws with the arrival and dispersal plan and its execution. well there was an obvious flaw with the dispersal plan. people wouldnt wait for their turn to leave just because u ask them to. and even more not so when the police, the uniformed personnel with authority, let them leave. some army guy was conducting the debrief and he told us apologetically that the police have been briefed (apologetic cos we complained that there were conflicting orders from the 'higher authorities' which made our job very difficult... and which he knew was very true) but quietly added 'but there's always been something between the army and the police'. which, well, the guys would know is kinda true. the army and police do not see eye to eye i guess. the only time u see the 2 parties working together is during ndp. bet they're being forced to. haha. the funny thing was when one smu guy called out 'sir' before stating wat he wanted to say. i guess its pretty normal for us to call sir and 'mam cos tts wat we call our lecturers. but the army guy immediately said 'oh you dun hav to call me sir.. can jus address me by name.. cos we're not related in any rank sort of way'. haha so political. i think he didnt realised we wouldnt know his name. it was very funny cos he sounded so humble. later i noticed all the other army guys around him called him sir. no wonder he thought that way =)
i fluttered by;
11:52 PM
