A Matter of Responsibility

Relaxing Under A Shady Palm Tree

The roads were very congested that day and all the vehicles were practically crawling inch by miserable inch under the hot four o'clock sun. Matters were made worse because for the whole month of Ramadhan a particular section of the road in the town of Gemas has been closed to make way for the annual Ramadhan Bazaar.

I had been going up and down this particular road for almost half an hour, visiting the stalls, going to the tailors and buying somethings for our break of fast. I was searching in vain for the policemen whom I had seen earlier chatting with each other, oblivious to the traffic jam which was happening right under their stumpy noses. I was hoping that, if they were still there, they would have helped to ease the traffic congestion.

And after squinting my eyes and getting them acquainted to the scorching rays of the sun, I caught sight of one of the policemen, taking shade under a palm tree. Being a busy body that I am, I stood across the road and to my dismay, noticed that he stood there for almost half an hour, merely watching the congested road in front of him. That makes a total of one hour of idling.

I am not against resting. But if a teacher were to play truant like the policeman mentioned earlier, I am sure people from every quarters would make a hell of a noise, condemning the teacher; including the policeman himself. People should be fair in passing comments and not restrict them to people from one occupation only. I'm being fair in passing my comments! Thank God for blogs!