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