Fated

The Chinese have a saying, Losing Wealth To Avert Disaster. At least, that's about the most grammatical translation I can come up with. It's sort of our way of comforting ourselves when we lose money or something pricey or damage something that costs a lot to repair. It stems from the belief that our lives have been charted since birth and that we would have to encounter something or another at particular points in our lives, and our stuff decided to take one for the team instead, which is why we are not injured or dead.

I was reacquainted with this saying yesterday, when I lost my camera. It was a big bloody deal, because I love that camera. It's a Fujifilm Z100fd in this unabashed shade of fuchsia. It's so pink, guys turn gay carrying it. I bought it and the matching case in Japan about a year back and it's been faithfully recording my life ever since. I've not deleted the photos on it before because the memory card still has space. Thank goodness I do make a point of uploading my photos though. Oh ya, and it cost about $360.

Dad tried to comfort me by explaining the saying. Then he trumped it all by telling me the story of his accident. Really put things in perspective. It's not that bad to lose your camera; Daddy lost use of an arm.

I never really realized how much Dad believed in the whole idea of fate. Yes, he's Chinese, but there are so many of us who don't really buy into that stuff. I do, to some extent. Like Dad, I think the rough cast of our lives has been laid out, but the nitty gritty details aren't, and that we can do things to change it a bit. Like do good deeds to get good karma, that sort of thing.

And I think it does work. I couldn't help but respectfully remind the karma gods that I once picked up a handphone on a bus and returned it to the owner, purposely taking a bus to find him. And so when the cab company called and said the driver found the camera and was going to return it, I did a jig and thanked them profusely. The lady on the phone said the driver could drive down and return it to me now, but that I'd have to pay the fare. I thought that was only fair, kinda like a reward for his good deed. He could easily have sold it for much much more. I would have had to replace it for much much more.

So when the driver came, I doubled what the fare was, insisted he keep it, and wrote in to the papers and his company to compliment him on his honesty. Here's hoping that good deed also earns him some good karma.

But it's been a pretty bad spell all around this past week. Liangcai and Stella both broke out in rashes after some bad seafood, Stella lost her phone, I lost my camera (for a while), and, this is the most dramatic, part of the body kit on Elton's car broke off, thanks to this stupid car park curb. All I can say is, if these bad luck spells are just a taste of what might have happened, then thank the gods for their mercy.

And I've a sneaking suspicion it's not completely over. We were supposed to have game today, and usually that entails driving down to Orchard in his car. Since his car is in repair, I said we'd use my parents' car instead. Then just before time for me to get ready to go out, Elton calls and says game is cancelled since it's just two players, so no real point. Coincidence? Maybe. Quite freaky all the same. I don't think I should push my luck too far.