a dose of reality

I'd gone into the minimart below the block of flats opposite the office to get my staple of Fisherman's Friend mandarin ginger, and hoping to get a stamp for a letter I'm about to send off to Melbourne (but failing which, because I'd thought the SAM machine was the kind that would let me weigh the letter - it's not).
As I was leaving the store, an old Malay lady reached out her hands to me and said something in Malay.
I don't understand Malay, unfortunately, so I had no idea what she was saying.
She grabs my arm and then I understand - she needed some help to step up onto the ledge so she could get into the store.
She muttered something in Malay - which might have been 'that damn step!' - and said thank you and ambled off.

Most of the time one never thinks about how other people see things. How a little step up to get into a store can be an obstacle, and perhaps, how a packet of sweets that costs less than $2 is a luxury to some. How we often take things for granted.