The Mother of ALL Embarassments

......I just heard about your mother.....when is the funeral?
......er...I don't know, but I will let you know.....
?
.....call you back soon....but thank you for your condolences.

When something like that happens, I think we should take it in our stride and accept their condolences. After all, I'm not a typical filial child - so honestly, if any of my parents dropped dead, I would probably hear it from a third party. Not that it would make a difference for me, since this part of my life has been a blank for too many years - because of too much bitterness and perhaps, misdirected care.

Leaving the concerned caller waiting for a return call would be most impolite. Therefore, a call must be made to at least one filial sibling. At that point, I wasn't even sure, which was more distressing.

When was the last time you spoke to mother?
This morning. Why.
I just got a call asking for funeral arrangements.
For.
Mother.
Don't joke lah. Who said.
You better call to find out in case it just happened.
Ok.

1 minute later.
Where did they hear that from?
their mother.
OMG, don't do that to me again.

This happened to me yesterday evening. The caller was informed that Mother was very well but thank you for your concern.
I think no amount of apologies could make it enough for the caller.
For me, it was a sincere mistake on their part.
For them, it was not just a boo-boo - they were so apologetic that I felt bad.
Today, they got their kid to apologise to my son.

They are probably thinking that I took offence. I did not. We could die and leave this world anytime if our time is up. We do not pre-book our departure. AND their sending their condolences immediately upon hearing the news was decent enough for me.

For some, this may be like a bad thing to say, or what we know as a 'suay' thing to say...but hey...if there was no 'suay' intention, how could it be a 'suay' in the first place.

We must remember that, in our delivery, our sincerity MUST be put across well, so that in instances where there is a grave error, it's the sincerity that will prevail.

That is my rule of thumb.
Simple.
No mess.
Eventhough, this could have been the Mother of all Embarassments!