show of force

my breakfast today was interrupted by a smartly dressed - but rude - gentleman seated two tables away. he kept complaining about his roti canai and ice lemon tea, and kept reprimanding the waiter over some trivial matters like the lack of sugar in his drink or unavailability of curry for his roti canai. he was obnoxious, and looked around with pride each time he acted like an ass.

i felt sorry for him. he abviously has a good job. but he must be incompetent, and got the job through connections, which is a norm here. problem is, people like him wont get any respect at his work place, because he doesnt deserve it. so he takes his frustration out on the bangladeshi waiter who works hard to earn a living.

i guess our cave man instincts cannot leave us, and we need to exert some force sometimes. the problem is .. who do we take it out on?

a head of state cannot take action on a vip who doesnt pay the quit rent for a mansion, so he picks on houseowners who take up pieces of land besides their homes (and in the process take better care of the land).

a journalist cannot publish what he know about almost everyone in this country, so he picks on mat rempits. cops with badges and a guns cannot take on the true crooks, who are above the law, so they hide behind bushes and stop people who exceed absurd speed limits, or truck drivers who overload, instead of the company that owns the lorries.

the driver of the rubbish truck who does not pick up my rubbish regularly is sore, because he has no one to pick on, just the two poor guys dangling behind the truck.
people who are left with the rubbish pick on their neighbours, especially those with smaller houses.

the anti corruption agency cannot take action on anyone. thats a frustrated lot.