Unstable

I was at a MRT pickup/dropoff stand that everybody uses as a taxi stand.

I was next in line when a young lady asked from behind me if I was waiting for a cab. I turned to her, smiled and said yes. She did what any well mannered regular person would do: she smiled back and proceeded to stand behind me.

In the next minute, I heard a timid voice from behind saying to the young woman that he was there before her. I expected the woman, who just a short while ago, was all sweetness and light (and sane), to tell the man something like, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you." And switch places with the guy.

But noooo... In a flash, her face contorted into a snarl. Then, with fangs bared and neck veins popping, she screamed into his face, "WHAT FOR YOU TELL ME?! GET IN FRONT OF ME LOR."

I exaggerate not when I say the poor guy froze, not knowing what next to do. Sigh. He looked pitiful! I turned, smiled at the stunned bloke and said to him, "Get behind me, ok?" Oh, he made this big curve of a path to put himself between the woman and me, keeping the angry shrew within his nervous sight . He must have been really scared and wanted to give her as wide a berth as possible.

I looked at the woman again as I got into my cab. She was just standing there, looking at nothing in particular in front of her. Acting like the violent outburst of invective never took place.

And I thought, that's what it means when an animal is described as "of unsound temperament". When the animal is all purr-ry and cuddly one minute, and, in the next, has snapped and bitten half your face off.

It's called unstable when referring to humans.

I felt chill down my spine. I was scared. Really. Truly. Scared.