![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmWCNdbHERqN47zyYqoJFhFFpCSJqS9kbiTdgq8ZLx6XFx/tak_berjudul1_20250618104102.png)


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A bright morning for a cheerful soul.

The morning sun slowly began to appear, illuminating the horizon of the world, creating shadows from several large trees with shady leaves, rice plants in the fields, and some wild grass whose leaves were covered in very clear dew drops.

The shadows swayed slowly here and there following the direction of the morning wind. I saw the sunlight shining into the dining room and kitchen, its light slipping into every gap in the house. The shadow of the sun appeared between the puddles of rice fields that had not been planted.

From outside, from the path, the voices of mothers and fathers were heard telling stories about the gardens and rice fields they were working on. They were very diligent farmers. Some were young, some were old. Some carried hoes and machetes, while the female farmers carried food containers.

Their faces were very cheerful with sincere smiles and cheerful laughter. As if they were happy enough to be farmers and live in simplicity, at one with nature, living in harmony with nature.

That morning after finishing breakfast, I said goodbye to my mother to go for an interview so that I could be accepted into college with a scholarship.

"Stay strong, stay strong, stay strong" my mother said three times while clenching her fists

"Stay strong" I shouted hopefully

I left by train. I sat on a station chair that was approximately 2 meters long, waiting for the train to arrive while reading a piece of paper containing writing about the material to be interviewed. Around the station, people had started to gather, there were young people holding basketballs, there were also office workers who looked rushed because they checked their watches several times.

After waiting for quite a while, the train finally arrived, we all squeezed in. Inside the train almost everyone was focused on their respective cellphones. Only a few people who were also high school students that I saw were very focused on reading textbooks. In the special seats for parents and pregnant women, I saw three parents chatting happily with friends of the same age. I also saw a pregnant woman chatting happily with her husband while her hand gently rubbed her stomach. Security officers were also seen walking back and forth to ensure the safety of the train passengers.

After about 15 minutes the train stopped, I finally arrived at my destination. All the passengers got out, very crowded and disorderly. So for the sake of safety I gave in and got out last with the pregnant women and elderly people who were already walking very slowly.

After I finally got out of the station, on the side of the road I waved to one of the public transportation cars that was moving slowly while looking for passengers. The public transportation car stopped in front of me. I got on and entered. There were not many passengers in the public transportation car, only four people. An old woman sat in the front seat with the driver, the rest sat in the back seat with me.

However, there was one passenger who scared me quite a bit, he looked like a thug, had a strong body, tattoos on both hands. His hair was long, curly and messy, his shoes were long black and his fingers were decorated with many skull-shaped ring accessories. All the passengers in the back seat were silent without saying a word, I was increasingly suspicious that the one who looked like a thug was a bad person.

However, it turned out that my guess was wrong. Very wrong and not on target. The passenger who I thought had bad habits, turned out to be kind-hearted and generous. I saw all of that with my own eyes when one of the passengers, a female student, forgot to bring her fare money.

"Oh sir, I left my money at home." Said a passenger who was still a female student with an embarrassed and worried expression.

"Oh, how could that be. How could you forget your money. I work like this for money too. How can I be free?" said the driver a little annoyed.

"Let me pay the fare," said the passenger who looked like a thug while giving 15 thousand rupiah to the public transportation driver.

"Next time, don't be in a hurry if you want to go to school. And remember to go to school well and diligently. So that you become a useful person for other people and the nation." Said the thug-like passenger to the female passenger who forgot to pay her fare.

From that incident I became ashamed, ashamed because I myself could not help, even though the one who could help was someone I thought was a bad person just because of his appearance.

After that incident, I was pensive and remembered what one of my teachers said when I was still in high school. My teacher said at that time, "Not all appearances are a reflection of a person's behavior. Sometimes appearances are deceiving. Now let's look at and pay attention to the perpetrators of corruption who damage the order of the country, their appearance is very neat and fragrant. On the other hand, there are quite a few people with an outward appearance like bums and thugs but their hearts are full of kindness, virtue, caring and generosity. So stay kind"

Once again I feel ashamed of myself.

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Image source: my digital painting at Ibis Pain