A red letter day?
Received a letter....yippy yay....with the advent of e-mail and the Net, really do not receive lovely snail mail much anymore. The only time I now check the post box is to retrieve monthly bills and to clear annoying promotional leaflets...so the surprise at unnestling the red-enveloped "treasure" in the midst of the junk....hahahaha....simply wonderful!Despite the convenience offered by the Net, it is a tremendous delight in receiving old fashioned mail coz' :
1. Its the anticipation - who is the letter from?? can i identify the writing? what's inside the envelope?
2. Its tangible - nothing beats physically holding and reading a letter, painstakingly scribbled by the sender ...the rustle of paper in your hands
3. Its originality - unlike e-mail, you're pretty much assured that it was not "cut and paste", ok I suppose it is still possibly copied, but at least handwriting is original...hahahhah
Back to the letter.....a few mysterious points:
1. It was addressed to me, but preceded with my mum's surname, rather than mine;
2. Couldn't identify the handwriting to save my life; and
3. On the flipside of the envelope was the sender's name and return address (obviously this did not ring a bell, which accounts why i termed it mysterious)
Disregarding the threat of anthrax in unknown letters, my curiousity was piqued and that pushed me to rip the envelope apart even before I had set foot into my house....hmmmm...who was this mysterious person...a long lost friend whom for some reason i had totally no recollection of?
Quickly scanning through the letter revealed an even more puzzling picture....it was NOT a social letter...and although I am a Buddhist, I could identify quoted scriptures from the Bible....strange....my Christian friends all knew my stand on religion:
I believe that everyone is free to choose their own faith/religion, so long as no harm is done to others. By respecting the decision of others, I also expect that respect to be returned. Nothing turns me off more than individuals who keep imposing on others why their faith/religion is superior to theirs...and of course there are some crazies who even go to the extent to condemn inter-faith marriages, and sometimes even friendships! What the.... Oh yes, these crazies come from all walks of lives, and may I emphasise, are not confined to any one particular religion.
My irritation was fast escalating....and at this point, decided not to spoil my day by finishing the letter. Just casually flipped to the last line....which just said: "Lots of love from your loving aunt"
Ooops!!!....she was my mum's cousin whom i've always called "ah yee"...so no wonder i didn't recognise her christian name. Sigh...yes i knew she was a staunch Christian...so guess that without much to do after retirement, she has decided to spend her time writing letters to spread the love of Jesus around her relatives who weren't of the same religion, yet!
It was wierd...my annoyance evaporated, and (unfortunately) turned to amusement instead (Note: am not being sarcastic/ poking fun). Knowing that my aunt only meant well placed me in a predicament - should I even reply her letter? if yes, how do i tell her to "back-off" diplomatically without hurting her feelings?
Hmmm....never mind, will procrastinate till I return to Penang for Chinese New Year...then will cross the bridge when I get to it!
munsta ramblings @ 6:09 pm
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