Tissue paper from afar

Two weekends ago, LS and I had dinner/supper at Gluttons' Bay after catching a theatre production at the Esplanade.

We were tucking into our char kway teow and hokkien mee (whose standard is not always consistent, in our opinion) when a guy appeared out of nowhere at our table. He looked our age, dressed like us - in t-shirt and jeans, that is.

Actually, i can't remember what he looks like. What i do remember is his unexpected request: 'Can i have a piece of tissue paper from you please?' Perfectly normal, nothing funny, you say. I agree, except that this guy wasn't seated next to us; he was seated faraway.

I admit i was surprised because i didn't notice him coming. But when he walked away and did not stop until he returned to his seat which was a good couple of tables away from us in the middle section (we were seated at the far end), i became curiously puzzled. LS and I started laughing and wondered why the hell did the guy approached us for just a piece of tissue paper instead of asking other patrons who were nearby his table. It just didn't seem very logical.

We could only guess that since my packet of tissue paper was (visible) on the table, he must have walked around to spot someone who definitely had tissue paper with him before venturing his request.

As i told LS, this must count as one of the 101 bizzare incidents in the year 2007 for me. She chuckled, and we continued digging into our food, still amazed at the unexpected request from a faraway 'neighbour'.