Last Monday, I visited Jalan Besar to find a new fan blade（旋转叶片） for a standing fan that my daughters had broken.
I'd worked in the Jalan Besar area 30 years ago and remembered that there were lots of small hardware shops selling unusual things so I thought that I would have no problem finding a fan blade. However, after walking around for almost an hour, I found out that these shops were no longer around.
When I was ready to give up and go home, I spotted an old-fashioned hardware store. After being greeted by a woman, I explained my predicament. She immediately asked me to show her the broken blade. Out of nowhere, a man who looked to be in his 60s came out.
He asked to see the blade and then disappeared into the shop. He came back with a blade but it did not look the same as what I had in my hand. We compared the two blades and he said that it might work.
I asked him how much it was. He told me that he had taken the blade off an old fan that someone had brought in for repair. He said: "It didn't cost me anything, so why should I charge you for it?" That really touched me. I took the blade home and it work perfectly! My daughters got a "new" fan for nothing.
When I told them this story, they were shocked as they are used to patronizing big modern shops where everything is transactional and the employees go strictly by the book. Not so much my wife. She is almost in her 60s, and said this reminded her of the kind aunties and uncles who used to run small shops and were always ready to help others when she was growing up.
