52

If You Treat People Right, You Can Only Hope That They Treat You Right.

Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'"

Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome.

"You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says.

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

"The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, 'You know everybody here. Do you own this place?'"

"No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz says he told the teen. "He says, 'But you're even nice to the dishwasher.'"

Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"

"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost a sad face," Diaz says.

The teen couldn't answer Diaz — or he didn't want to.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."

The teen "didn't even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know."

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me."

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch."

"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world."

Produced for Morning Edition by Michael Garofalo.

51

OMG its new year already. Apekejadah cepat gila setahun tau tau dah masuk tahun lain dah. *sigh*

Wa tak celebrate new year. Bukan sebab wa poyo ke apa but it just wa tak rasa wa patut menyambut hari di mana umur wa tua setahun. Dulu wa selalu fikir 'huish kesiannya diorang dah tua their life must be really weird kan'. Now Im in that condition. Not good.

Wa rasa wa ada masalah komunikasi lately. Especially with new person. I wish if I could become who I use to be masa zaman dolu-dolu. APsal wa dah tak petah apsal wa rasa gagap pergh pregh pergh mulot hati tolong lah jadi lebih yakin.

Wa busy. Wa taip ni pun laju-laju jap lagi nak mandi lepas tu nak tidur. *tipu padahal kadang-kadang sampai ke pagi mata wa terkebil-kebil wa tak boleh tidur.*

Wa kerja dengan bapak wa. Gila babi busy sampai few days ni sampai rumah je kaki rasa menggeletar sebab letih sangat. Thanks to akak-akak staff kat pejabat bertungkus lumus kerja dari jumaat, sabtu, ahad padahal 3 hari tu patutnya cuti umum tapi cuti ke date ke entah kemana.

Thanks kepada pekerja-pekerja bahagian sampingan yang macam nak gila siapkan kerja renovation dalam masa seminggu sampai tergamak tidur dekat site. Thanks dekat budak-budak uitm yang mampu bersabar even tempat korang tak complete lagi insyallah wa dengan bapak wa *eceh macam wa buat kerja sangat* will try our best settlekan benda-benda yang tak beres lagi besok and paling-paling pun minggu ni. Ok serious petang tadi wa cuak bila fikir pasal benda ni since I never face this kind of situation. Ok esok banyak kerja jenuh nak travel. *Om nom nom*

Oh ya. Thanks to adik wa Cik Munie yang turut sama serta tolong kat kedai. Wa pulak tukang masuk kedai pau air bila letih. Haha.

Wa takde azam. Wa just hope apa yang wa buat tahun ni, wa boleh buat sehabis baik. Wa nak kaya *haha melampau wish ni*. And semoga hati ni sentiasa ingat tuhan and dipermudahkan segala urusan.

And the most important thing is. Thanks to Mom and Dad and my whole family. You are the best thing I ever had.

(=

50

I hate getting older. Mindset aku bila we are getting older every decision that we take its like a risk. Ok tipu memang since we were born all decision yang kita buat adalah risk. Tapi, this time its getting harder.

I've face not-a-really-good-zaman bila aku melangkau 20an ni. Now aku rasa gelisah. Rasa alone even surrounded by people who I love. I cant say let just go with the flow. Aku terlalu manjakan diri aku or berharap agar dimanjakan sangat ke? Aku cuba buat benda lain so then aku boleh alih perhatian and lupakan but seems like it doesnt help. *sigh*

I hate when I cant be who I love to be.. I hate to see some people make decision and they are really confident about it. I hate to realize it was like something is missing and I dont know what it is and I dont know how to get it back. I hate when I dont know how to describe it.

Aku rasa rapuh. I pray to God everyday to give me a little strength. I dont ask for anybody to understand me but cukuplah if you just smile back at me and say "Its ok. Dont worry everything will be ok".

Mentally tired. Physically in pain.

49

Wa pergi makan kenduri member adik wa bersunat tadi. Wa cakap lu dia punya lauk ayam masak kicap dengan gulai terung+ikan dengan ikan kering goreng dengan sambal belacan tambah lagi dengan terung bakar segala mak nenek ulam bagai.

Wa ingat nak tambah tapi macam segan. Tapi sekarang kalau wa patah balik tempat kenduri buat-buat nak melawat orang bersunat lagi sekali boleh ke?

Nak suruh adik wa pesan kat member dia tolong bungkus lagi lah segan. Tapi serious wa lapar lagi ni. Menyesal control lembah lembut lemah gelamai sopan samtun bebudi bahasa malu maluan nak makan kat tempat kenduri tadi. *sigh*

48

Wa nak cerita pasal cerita seram. So lepas ni kalau aku bukak blog ni lagi aku boleh teringat balik cerita ni. Since Paish kawan baik aku yang menggeletar call aku tengah-tengah malam ajak aku teman dia berbual after tak boleh tidur nampak 'benda' tu depan-depan mata. Tapi kesian jugak dengar dia kena ganggu kat rumah sendiri.

Ok ceritanya macam ni, last few days parents Paish pergi KL. So since Paish ada kelas he got to stay home lah. Well before this pun dia dah pernah stay sorang-sorang and alhamdulillah tak ada benda bukan-bukan jadi except for dengar bunyi-bunyi yang dia anggap as angin ka etc.

Maghrib tu, dia dah ternampak macam kelibat melintas kat dapur. Tapi ingatkan mainan perasaan ke apa so dia tak ambik port sangat.Sampai lah malamnya bila dia mula dengar pintu rumah bergegar-gegar orang ketuk tapi bila jenguk keluar tak ada orang pun. Kalau nak diikutkan pintu pagar kunci macam mana ada orang boleh masuk ketuk-ketuk pintu pulak.

Dah nak dekat tengah malam dia masuk dalan toilet, berak. Oklah aku guna bahasa sopan sikit, buang air besar. Habis berak dia buka pintu nak keluar hah ambik kau terpacak kat depan pintu toilet. Sebab kaget, Paish tutup balik pintu and tunggu kejap.Ayat Kursi pun ingat separuh je time tu. After a while dia bukak pintu tengok ada lagi. Aku tanya dia apa yang lu nampak. Dia cakap rambut panjang sampai nak cecah lantai kain putih and menghadap ke belakang. Kalau dia pusing aku rasa mau berak lagi sekali si Paish.

Third time dia bukak baru 'benda' tu hilang. Kelam kabut Paish pergi masuk bilik. Entah berapa kali muntah-muntah sampai tertidur. Bangun dari tidur terus call cerita kat member-member.

Capik "Tu la hang berak lama sangat orang lain pun nak guna jugak"

Malam semalam si Paish mesej aku cakap dia dah sampai Melaka naik bus. Sebab tak tahan pintu rumah asyik kena ketuk padahal tak ada orang. Last-last dia decide packing barang bawak motor pergi Kangar beli tiket pergi Melaka. Phew..

Tunggu la balik nanti tengok lagu mana pulek..
Aku pulak lately gila sensetif hidong asyik selsema *sigh*

47

Rasa rimas, tak selesa, tak boleh stay calm, tak boleh fokus. I hate this kind of feeling. Someone just make my heart goes damdamdum bunyi mercun.

Oh, and it December already. Dah nak habis tahun. Semoga tahun ini disudahi dengan keberkatan. And sempena Maal Hijrah, gua harap gua could become someone better than apa yang gua dah buat tahun ni.

Phew~

46

Wa rasa wa ada masalah memory yang sangat buruk. I dont know wheter im pretending to forget it ke apa. But for sure masalah ingatan wa ini membawa wa ke arah perlakuan yang di luar jangkaan dan merugikan diri sendiri.

Wa pernah hilang glasses sebab tertinggal dalam bus. Bukan glasses RM10 beli dekat pasar malam haa.. Ini glasses rabun punya pasal. Last few month wa tertinggal handphone pulek dalam bus ketika dalam perjalanan pulang ke kolej. See, hilang lagi.

Itu belum kira wa lupa nama lecturer VB sampai a month before habis semester baru wa tau tempat duduk dia. Before this wa ada terfikir whether wa menuntut ilmu dalam kelas bunian ke hapee kenapa tak pernah nampak pun muka lecturer tu dekat department. *padahal wa memang tak suka masuk department* *sigh*

So when I've decided to change my phone a friend told me supaya tak payah beli handphone mahal-mahal because at the end of the day takut wa hilangkan lagi. Well, wa dah start makan ikan banyak-banyak ni haa to make sure it wont happen again. LMAO

But I use to have a very great memory about certain thing especially dengan people who very close to me and aku sayang ; my family especially. Their smell, their favourite place, what they use to do and etc etc.. And hopefully I'm gonna remember those memories forever.

I MISS THEM..