The story of Aunty Grumpy, Stitch and Elric

I know I am supposed to work on Elric's birthday post but I couldn't resist writing about this instead.  

I was taught some good lessons and I thought it worthwhile penning it down. 

Bear with me as I explain the background of what happened. 

Aunty Grumpy 

We've been staying in Seng Kang for 5 years and the nearest place we can purchase our meals, is from Compasspoint shopping centre. The Kopitiam food court is by default where we buy our food.
 

There is this popular stall which sells carrot cake and fried kuey tiao. We always have to queue for quite awhile but Alphonse thinks it's worth the while.

 

At the stall is an aunty who takes the order. Let's call her Aunty Grumpy. That's how she often look. She gets impatient easily and always put on a grumpy face. I never liked Aunty Grumpy as she took my orders wrongly quite a few times. I continued patronising the stall only because Alphonse loves their dishes. I would show her my grumpy face when at her stall. 

 

Alphonse didn't like her either but would still bring Elric over to take away his lunch.

Elric Meets Aunty Grouchy

Elric met Aunty Grumpy when he was almost a year old. Elric was very friendly and responsive towards her. No more grumpy face! She smiled happily at Elric! Miracle! 

Gradually, Aunty Grumpy remembered Elric and would tell her customers in the queue that Elric is very a cute and obedient boy. There was once she even pulled her colleagues out from the kitchen exclaiming, 'There!!! This is the boy I told you about! Very cute right?'

A month without Fried Kuey Tiao

It was the flu season last month. Alphonse and I were not spared from the viruses spreading around. Hence the food from the stall was not suitable for us. 

Just yesterday, Alphonse decided to have his favourite dish again. Alphonse said that Aunty Grumpy was SO happy at seeing Elric from afar. She quickly asked Alphonse to go over. 'Ah Boy ah! Auntie bought something for you! Finally you are here!'

Alphonse was puzzled and tried to decline her kind gesture when she insisted and explained why she bought it for Elric...

 

Here's the little gift from Aunty Grumpy. A Stitch Keychain.  

Elric bullied at the foodcourt

As I mentioned earlier, it's always a long queue at Aunty Grumpy's stall, Alphonse would sit Elric at the nearest empty chair while waiting for his order to be ready.

Last month, when Elric was seated down, he saw two girls on the next table having a Stitch plush each. He was curious and tried reaching the plush toys placed on the table.

The two girls, about 4-6 years old, quickly hid their precious plushies from Elric, folded their arms and stucked their tongue at Elric.

 

I was sitting right next to Elric when all these happened. Although I knew it wasn't a pleasant experience for Elric, I felt it's alright for Elric to that in life, he won't always get what he want. But it's ok.

Apparently, Aunty Grumpy was observing all that was happening right from her stall. She got very upset with the two girls and probably thought in her mind 'Ah Boy, Nevermind! Aunty will buy for you!'

She told Alphonse that she bought the gift a month ago and carried it in her bag everyday, hoping to pass it to Elric. That's why she was overjoyed to see Elric. 

This Stitch keychain was purchased from Kiddy Palace. He likes it a lot. :)

Indeed, as the Chinese saying goes, 礼轻情谊重. The gift is not something expensive, but we know it's filled with love. Besides, her salary is not high. This $8.90 keychain isn't considered a cheap gift to her. 

Lesson for Mummy

This was a humbling episode for Mummy Kaye. I was completely surprised that Aunty Grumpy would buy something for Elric just because he was bullied. I'm sure she cares for Elric a lot to have done that. It seems to me that Elric has melted a mountain of ice. Aunty Grumpy becomes Aunty Friendly when he's around. 

Initially, I got Elric to greet Aunty Grumpy, simply because of politeness. I believe my child should respect and greet the people he meets. If Elric chose to ignore Aunty Grumpy initially, this mountain of ice would never have melted.  

I guess my boy has taught me a great lesson. Or should I say, God through Elric, taught me a great lesson of love. Love those who seems unloveable. Surely, there are times when I put a grumpy face and isn't 'loveable' either.

Do not judge. Aunty Grumpy used her way to protect my son when he was bullied by the two girls. She may be grumpy simply because she is unhappy with work. Not everybody is fortunate to land in a nice working environment. She is only trying to earn a living. I should not have judged her. 

The first thing I'll do when I go to her stall next time, will be to thank her for her gift. :)

Alright. Thanks for reading my post. 

Have a great weekend!

XOXO, 

Mummy Kaye