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A Morning at the Lee Household, in Third-Person Omniscient

Pa sat at his kitchen counter, sipping on the flat white he just made. As he read the article, his curiosity was piqued. Was it true? Is Gen Z unable or unwilling to read in Third-Person Omniscient anymore?

Just then, his son, Isaac walked by. He looked at Pa curiously.

“Morning, Bruh.”

Pa said his Good Morning back, and muttered something about not being his bruh.

Isaac frowned and grabbed the open Cheetos packet from the fridge.

I will have that as my breakfast for now, he thought. Perhaps some Mee Kia later when I step out.

As he stuffed his face with the messy snack that pretends to be made of real cheese, his thoughts wandered to more important issues of the day. Should I play my Marvel Rivals game first, or should I submit my university application before the appeal window closes?

Iron Man won that round. There was still time to submit the application, he decided.

Just then, the youngest member of the family came downstairs.

Joy saw Pa lost in his thoughts. She wanted her double shot of espresso so badly, though she didn’t want to interrupt his deep thoughts.

Is he thinking about the Third-Person Omniscient thing again, Joy thought. Of course Gen Z can deal with Third-Person Omniscient, why does Pa think we can’t? He can be such a Boomer sometimes. Wait, is Pa a Boomer or Gen X? I cant remember.

Just then, Pa, looking nothing like someone age 56, looked up from his reading, as if instinctively hearing his youngest child’s need for caffeine. That was his Coffee Spider Sense.

“You want some coffee? I make for you now.”

Joy nodded with enthusiasm, and went to get the oat milk from the fridge. She smiled as she took the carton, knowing exactly what her father will say: You should stop drinking that stuff. That’s not milk. That’s just vegetable water with sugar.

Pa looked up from his espresso machine and over the hum of the rotary pump, said, “You should stop drinking that stuff. That’s not milk. That’s just vegetable water with sugar.”

A Rare Power Trip

Don’t assume power never trips in Singapore. 

My block lost power earlier today, around 11.20am, just as I was about to make my second espresso of the day. Neighbours were out and about, checking with each other.

I took the stairs to the first floor to check if other blocks were affected. Seems like the entire area was affected because other blocks lost power too. 

Some were stuck in the lift and were banging the door and pressing the emergency bell. A few of us tried to reassure people stuck inside that help was coming. 

Then before the lift rescue team came, power was restored. 

Downstairs, I met the cleaner who cleans our blocks. He was in his civvies. 

He told me he was going back to Bangladesh. 

“Oh!” I said, “Going back for good?”

“14 days. On leave,” he smiled.

“Ah good, good! Enjoy seeing your family and loved ones!,” I said, shaking his hand. 

He smiled and thanked me. 

The whole power failure thing lasted about 10-15 minutes. 

Later, I climbed the stairs back to my flat, even though power seemed to be back, and the lifts were working. 

A young lady was going down the stairs, as I was climbing up, and we both agreed it was best to use the stairs first, because the power just came back on, and we were not sure if it would trip again. 

With the son’s help, I turned the circuit breakers in the home back on, one at a time.

I heard the power failure affected a wider area than I initially thought. As far as Hougang and Sengkang.

I wonder what happened. But we do take a lot for granted here. I am thankful the power was restored so quickly. Maybe it’s time to get a UPS for the computers and the router. Or more importantly, for my coffee machine.