12 April 2008

Stained.

I just had this weird weird encounter at the supermarket just this afternoon.

Here's what happened. My mom asked me to go to the supermarket to grab a bunch of mosquito mats and 4 bars of soap. At first, I refused to do the errand because the temperature outside was way too hot and the supermarket was a bit far from our place. But after some negotiations, incentives (cue: hindi sya pera) and threats, I gave in and agreed to do the job. So there I went shopping for the goods she ordered me to buy. I did not had a hard time finding the items, as they were common and easy to find. As I put the items down on the cashier, a lady queued behind me. She was shorter than I was and her age was 40 years ahead of me, basing from the lines on her face (parang intermediate pad lang dude!). She was quite annoying with the way she carries herself. Also, she goes around talking with the people on the line, as if they were close. Then, the time had come when she talked to me. I had no choice but to talk to her, because it would be rude to ignore her right on her face, even if I wanted to.

• Old lady: Oh, you're buying that much mosquito mats and bar soap? Looks like you're hoarding them!

• Old lady: Yeah. I saw people like you nga eh, doing hoarding so many stuffs. (anu daw?)

• Me: Ah, ok.

• Old lady: It's like so poor kaya. It got me laughing all over (eto na yung mga panahong gusto ko ihambalos sa mukha nya yung bareta ng sabon, pero kawawa yung sabon eh, saka i don't want to get rude). Pero I get your point. It's so malamok these days nga, lalo na dun sa Molave, kasi we live in Ayala Alabang eh.

• Me: Yeah, I agree madami nga naman pong lamok these days, and you know it's so expensive to get sick these days. So it's better to be preventive.

• Old lady: So, you study in *bleep*? (note: I was wearing a school shirt) You we're lucky against us ah, defeat nyo kami.

• Me: Oh? where were you from, ma'am?

• Old lady: I am from *toot*, and my daughter would be going there come June. Hehe. Ok lang matalo nyo kami sa basketball, we're always better than you naman eh.

I got irritated at this point. She was so acting like a bitch turned prune, and I can't take it anymore. I figured that I'll answer her and quickly pay the bill and run off.

• Me: Ah, ganun po ba ma'am? Kasi po kami sa *bleep*, tinuturuan po kami maging humble. Mayabang po kami sa hard court at sa competitions, pero marunong po kami rumespeto ng aming mga kalaban. Pagkalabas po ng hard court, equals po ang tingin namin sa mga kalaro namin, hindi mga taong kakumpetensya. Kaya po sa totoong buhay, ganun din po kami. Tinuruan po kami ng *bleep* na maging mapagkumbaba at hindi maging mapagmataas at judgemental sa mga tao, anu man ang antas nila sa buhay. Siguro naman po, tinuturo din sa *toot* yun no? Kasi po kung hindi, kahiya hiya naman po iyon, mataas pa naman po ang turing ko sa paaralang iyon.

• Me: Sige po ma'am. Mauuna na po ako. Pakibilisan nyo na lang din po ang pagbabayad, dahil yung nasa likod nyo eh mahirap at maraming hinohoard eh. (sarcastic na ako at this point).
  

I went out wanting to kill that bitch-slash-prune. One thing why we Filipinos couldn't move on to prosperity is that we tend to be judgmental. We tend to look low at our fellow Filipinos. We laugh at the mistakes of others, enjoying the downfall of our neighbors. And, with the case of the old lady, she acted in such a way that she offends people who are working hard to earn for a living. It was such a disgrace not only to her stature but to her alma mater. Her alma mater is no doubt one of the most respected institutions here in the Philippines. Not that I want to disgrace that school, but the old lady was wrong, kahit saang school pa siya manggaling. My point is just that we Filipinos should stick to the values our schools taught us. We carry on the lessons our schools taught us, but we tend to forget the values our school stands for. WE shouldn't disgrace our schools, and stop the crab mentality.

It's ok to be a prune. It's inevitable, anyway. Just don't be a bitch.

nerdified at 7:08 PM