…went to UP Diliman to talk to a class of 4th year BA students about online advertising. In return, I got a certificate with the UP letterhead. Kewl! I was really happy to get it, because I’m a frustrated-and-still-wanna-be UPian (I went to UP Cebu High School but wasn’t allowed to study in Manila for college).
…was given a reproduction of a pencil sket of the Effel Tower by the teacher of the BA class (a friend of my officemate’s) , which she got during her 3-week all-expense-paid study tour in France. Kewl too!
…chatted with my sweetie on the phone for several minutes. Even just hearing his voice after a long day spent mostly trying to address/solve one thousand and one concerns and problems is more refreshing and rejuvenating than drinking a tall glass of ice-cold Coca-Cola after jogging for 2 straight hours. You’re the real thing, Ga. 
(Hahaha! That was so mushy! But I mean it.)
Posted under Navel-Gazing
Early yesterday morning, I went for a short walk down Pioneer Street (near where I live). I walked towards Shaw Boulevard and the 24-hour convenience store 10-Q, where I planned to get a bottle of mineral water. Halfway between Cityland and Shaw Boulevard, very near Pioneer Center, is a moderately wide stretch of sidewalk. This piece of ground is inhabited by a group of homeless people, who seem to make a living by collecting trash and selling it somewhere. Or at least, that’s what I think, because I’ve never seen them do anything more than collect trash and put in in a rickety kariton.
Whenever I pass by in one of my morning walks, they never give me more than a passing glance. Sometimes I think I hear “psst…psst…” but I usually ignore it.
Yesterday morning, most of them were squatting around a small black kettle, having breakfast. There was a man that looked 40-ish, a couple of 30-ish looking women, and 3 little girls. They were squatting on their haunches, eating with their bare hands. A cursory glance told me they were eating rice, I couldn’t see if they had any ulam or viand. As I raised my eyes from their small black kettle (I swear, it was only a few seconds), I met the smiling glance of the man.
“Kain na po tayo… he offered.
Taken aback, all I could mumble was, “Sige, thank you…”
I knew it’s a Filipino trait to offer to share food to guests or passersby when they happen to drop in/pass by while you are eating. Still, I was touched that a man who obviously had very little (or less than what most people have) had the courtesy to offer to share his meal with a passerby like me. Even if it was just a mere courtesy.
I remember it now because I’ve just had to deal with a really sucky attitude in an officemate. Sure, I know he had a bad attitude to begin with, and maybe he didn’t get a lot of good turns in his life. But other people have had it worse, and they still have a certain degree of courtesy.
Oh well. I’m too tired and too pissed to think any more about it. As wise people say, “what goes around, comes around”.
Posted under Navel-Gazing
