slipshod..

the girl was shrieking like a siren. running around the hawker center crying "mommy! mommy!"

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everytime when i try to think of one extremely vivid memory from my aged 5 and under years, i'd think of how i got lost in the now dyfunct in sgp daimaru department store.

so i was happily browsing at the leather wallets. i cant exactly remember the brand of the wallet. but if i do remember clearly it bore the cute little buffalo insignia of braun buffel. i do still enjoy looking at that brand today.. but that's not the point is it?

anyway, daddy decided to let go of my hand. or was it mommy? oh whatever. that's not highly important.

they left me standing there examining the wallet. i only realized they were gone after 10 minutes! mommy and daddy was perhaps gallavanting somewhere, in some other section in the, i dare say, bloody big departmental store. which in retrospect isn't very big now. but.. i digress.

anyway i got very worried. naturally. which 4 and a half year old wouldn't? i stood there rooted to the ground and i got a bit still all over. like the "okay.. so i'm lost. dont panic.." kind of feeling.

i pretended to continue browsing at the wallets for the next 20 minutes of so, until it struck me that my mommy and daddy may actually be abandonning me. yes. ABANDONNING me.

me. me. me. me. me. how could they do that? those heartless people? after 30 minutes and they didn't even bother to come for me? i'm sure as salt they were abandonning me at a big department store so i'll get so lost no one would find me. and i'd have to make home out of a bed in the store when all the lights go off. and all the staff leave for home. and hope and pray they don't kill the ventilators ( air con la!).

i made my way to the customer service counter. and saw a really pretty lady wearing a funky ( ok, in retrospect- NOT very funky la. just standard) name tag. i went up to her and whispered over the counter on tip toes.

" i'm cheryl tan and i think i'm lost. maybe daddy and mommy don't want me anymore."

and she got even more panicky than me. so this was when i really panicked. why in the world would an ADULT panic? when finding lost kids were their (almost) everyday job? why would they start getting so worried? was it because i'd incur the store costs for putting me up here all day and night from now on?

that really pretty lady aka receptionist ( ok. NOW I KNOW they're called receptionists. how would a 4 1/2year old know anyway?!) decided to page for my parents after i told her their names ( eh. i damn power ok! i could spell their names, write they names. and i think i knew their birthdates and id numbers too!).

5 minutes later my mommy and daddy appeared and then blamed me for running off. and all i did was stand there and stare at wallets. THEY were the ONES who WONDERED, no.. i correct myself. RAN OFF somewhere! without ME!

so perhaps you'd think it's my fault for being too obsessed by that buffalo insignia.

but you know what? that day established the fact in my belief that my parents partake- like many others- in wat i describe as.. Get This.. SLIPSHOD PARENTING.

otherwise how would i have been lost in a close to empty department store on a sunday MORNING?!

:)