The man who thinks women are trouble

I walked past this old man wearing a checked shirt and shorts, sitting on the steps of the MRT station entrance. He was napping, nodding his head, oblivious to the noisy people around him. He was barefooted and his pair of slippers were carelessly strewn on the stairs. An unkempt appearance.

I had a glimpse of him and noticed both his arms were tattooed. I was amused by what caught my eyes. On the old man's right arm, the tattoo on the inner arm was these Chinese characters "女人祸水", which means literally women are nothing but trouble/disaster. It got me really curious wondering what had happened to him. He got cheated by a woman/women? Harmed? Sabotaged? His wife left him? His daughter abandoned him? By merely 4 Chinese characters, one could feel his hatred towards women. Perhaps he had them tattooed as a reminder to himself not to be fooled by women ever again. Otherwise, I believe no man in his right mind would have done such a tattoo!

Nonetheless, I could not help but sympathize with him. May whatever pain/hatred/anger he is suffering from disappear. Nothing is worse than having a physical reminder of a past that hurts. Is he planting the seed of sorrow and hatred in his mental continuum - in this life and next? May he have a chance of finding new hope and happiness in his life.

As I passed by the train station again 2 hours later, I saw the old man again, sitting on the floor of the entrance of a 4D shop. He was still sleeping and nodding his head.