I was seated at a fountain at a shopping center while waiting for someone.
Have you been in a shopping center that early?
It was so quiet and peaceful, unlike what we would expect to experience in a shopping mall.
The sounds that I could hear was from the piped-in music, which sounds especially loud and overwhelming in this hour and those that come from the staff of kitchens of eateries preparing for the day.
I was engrossed in reading the newspapers.
A man in short, singlet, flip flop and carrying a backpack came and sat next to me.
I would not have noticed him if not for the "piak piak" sounds coming from his flip flop, which sounded kind of irritating and unwelcome at this hour.
We know that shoes make sounds when we are walking and different kind of shoes sound different.
The materials that shoes are made of, the surface that shoes come into contact with and the surrounding space also make different sounds.
A pair of leather shoe will sounds different from a pair of rubber leather shoe.
Walking on marbled floor sounds different from walking on a parquet floor with the same pair of shoes. High heels click-clack on solid floor. Track shoes make almost no sound on the same floor.
Walking along an empty long hall way creates loud and long echoes from the high heels. In an enclosed room, the sound becomes short and drop.
Some shoes are made to create certain sounds or loud/louder sounds to evoke certain perceived feelings.
It seems good leather soles make more noise than rubber soles or poorer quality leather soles. When we hear solid sounds coming from a man in leather shoes, do we perceive the person to be more stable? When we hear some people shoes making louder noise, do we perceive them to be more important or successful or higher up in the career ladder?
Sometimes, it could be due to habit of the person who is wearing the shoes or the culture.
You know when a person is dragging his or her feet by hearing the sounds when he or she is walking. Can you tell if a person is sloppy from the sounds of the shoes? It's very easy to recognize Singaporeans overseas especially if they are wearing slippers. They always make a lot of "piak piak" noise which they may not realize it themselves. Some nationalities make no noise at all wearing slippers.
The guy in flip flop seemed a little different.
It's not so much of his walking style or habit.
It seemed that he is trying to make a statement - to announce his arrival.
I could be wrong but I couldn't recall hearing the "piak piak" sounds coming from afar towards me. The man only did it when he was just a few steps away.
As a natural human reaction, I turned to see where is the noise from and who was making such a din to break the silence everyone was enjoying.
I continued reading my papers after realizing it's the guy who was now sitting behind my back.
He noticed that I saw him and made another "piak" sound with his flip flop while seated.
I turned again, this time feeling a bit annoyed.
And immediately I had my back against him, he made another "piak" sound.
Was he trying to irritate me?
If I was to turn and look again, I'm quite positive that he will repeat his action.
So instead of doing anything, I did nothing.
I continued reading my papers and ignored him totally.
He "piak" a few more times as if he's trying to irritate me. Somehow I just treat him as invisible and decided not to waste time and energy getting irritated over the incident.
Thinking back on this incident, I wondered if the guy is feeling insecure, desperately in need of attention, gets a kick out of irritating others or just crazy.