unwanted law

“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” states the Murphy’s Law. Quoted that from Wikipedia, and I personally declare that this is more of a fact than a mere adage as many people claim. This declaration is triggered by my personal encounters with situations twinned with the said law—of course my assessment to such situations is also subjective. I am not soliciting anyone’s approval nor disapproving anyone’s opinion. Oh, well my purpose is not to come up with a scholarly article for the subject, but to share my engagements with it. I am listing some of which and you are more than welcome to see for yourself if you have gone through the same.

1. FYI: I am living in a studio-type flat with two fellow text messaging addicts. So it will sound ironic if I said, “network coverage inside is scarce as hen’s teeth.” There are certain spots in the house where we place our mobile phones to receive messages and calls. But we have to be out of the building or race to the rooftop when someone’s giving a ring, because answering the call inside would mean talking to Ms. Silence. Difficult as it may sound, I have been accustomed to it but it still irritates me each time I wait for ages waiting for a call before taking a shower, and just when I’m all wet, my phone rings like it doesn’t have plan to stop.

2. Have you gone shopping and fell in love with a shirt and rushed to the fitting room to try it on but found it unflattering? Thus, you looked for another size and your preferred color but failed to find one? And when you asked for the sales associate for assistance all he/she could tell was: “sorry, this size isn’t available” or “sorry, that color isn’t in store”? 

4. I’m not into rubbing any on my face, but back in 2009, I worked for a government agency and was compelled to put on face powder. My boss even bought me a canister of face powder so I could give no reason for not applying some. But after weeks of using the powder, pimples, one by one, mushroomed on my face. So my boss again bought me a facial lotion that according to her, would prevent pimples. I used the product and glad that it was surprisingly effective. After a month or so, I had to buy a new one. But I almost visited all stores where I could possibly get the product and ended up empty handed. Until I finally learned that the product doesn’t circulate in the market anymore! What a bummer! But let me clarify that it was not the reason I quit the job. 

5. Cancelled an appointment or did not go to work due to sickness? Done it many times. When the unwanted feeling is nascent, you’re kind of skeptic texting your boss that you can’t make it to the office. And when you think you have to see a doctor and texted your boss about it, your boss left his/her cellphone at home. And the worse, you went to see your doctor and by the time you get to the clinic you suddenly felt better. So again, you decided to cancel the check up and as you got home you didn’t feel better again. 

(subject to editing)

a child's happiness

Happiness to a child is a balloon held by the hand,

a canister of candies, a castle in the sand.

Happiness to a child is a fried chicken on a platter,

a bite to an apple, a bowl of soup when there’s fever.

Happiness to a child is a pair of slippers,

an umbrella under  the sun, a sweater  in a cold weather;

Happiness to a child is a time with fellow children

—to slide in the park, to chase bugs in the garden.

Happiness to a child is the present in a sock;

the blowing of birthday candles before friends that flocked.

Happiness to a child is the pencils and bags and coloring books

the nursery rhymes, the ABC's,  and story books.

Happiness to a child is the pillow fight with brother or sister,

a bedtime story of Father, a goodnight kiss from Mother.

Do you think this child is happy?

passion or future?

When I was a kid…

…many a times I was asked what I wanted to be when I grow up. Answering the question was a no brainer, but never did I do it with a template because truth was, I wanted to be many. I wanted to be a doctor, a scientist, a painter, a teacher, a pilot, an engineer, a lawyer, a magician. I even wanted to be a performing artist. I was ambitious—extremely ambitious so to speak.

But I just realized that those ambitions were designed by my inexperienced being. I only wanted to be a doctor because I thought I would look good on long white coat with the stethoscope laced on my neck; I wanted to be a scientist because I thought it was cool if I could make myself an armor I could use in stone wars against kids in the neighboring barrios;  I wanted to be a painter because my plain, nature-loving eyes were deeply in love with the beauty of my hometown; I wanted to be an engineer because I thought if I were one, I could build a huge tree-house atop our mango tree; I wanted to be a teacher because my grandfather was a teacher and so were many of my aunts and uncles; I wanted to be etcetera because my innocence said so. I wasn’t truly ambitious.

When I turned six and had to go to school, I couldn’t fathom my excitement when I saw my school materials. I even slept with my bag the night before the first school day. I was actually awake most of the night. Now I understand why many kids are eager to go to school. The new pencils, notebooks, bag, paper pads, and the daily cents on hand tell it all. But the excitement only lasts for days. Because as the school materials get older, the appetite of schooling wanes.  Certainly, parents don’t expect a first grader to be totally comprehensive of the most profound essence of schooling. I still clearly remember Mother kept saying: “Study hard or you’ll be like us someday;” “Study hard so you won’t have to farm someday;” “Study hard so you’ll be able to buy what you want someday;” And more study hard so you’ll be or you won’t be blah blah blah someday.  It was a nightly ritual and had to endure it. Poor Mother, we didn’t have a cassette player. She could have recorded the sermons and played them on dinner time and could have her fair share of the food she prepared herself. Did she know that meals always ended with her reminders taken for granted? There, who would have thought I’d deal with dear life seriously one day? 

Well, like other humans I grew older. Maturity they said befriended me earlier than the usual. Perhaps it’s because I was acquainted with the facets of difficult life at very early age. The early dealing with responsibilities somehow made an unfavorable impact toward my schooling. I preferred earning money than earning wisdom, but thanks to Mother for always reminding me the edges of being educated. I finished grade school and high school with so many struggles. Not because I had the slowest brains but because I had to compel myself to like schooling. But college was a different thing, so I did what I could to finish a degree though without flying colors but with satisfactory grades. Haha! “Satisfactory” of course should not be the satisfactory standard of getting grades. One should aim beyond satisfactory to grow, and that, I did after receiving my diploma. Not too late though especially when I finally ascertained what I really wanted to be. 

Teaching is no easy profession. I only realized that when I was already doing the job. An idealistic person would say that the profession’s rewards could surpass the riches one could accumulate from a successful business. Why, yes! What else can be more rewarding than seeing a child saying his ABC and counting his 123 with the beam of confidence in his eyes? Can there be more rewarding than listening to a child saying the words and sentences he worked hard to learn? Can there be more rewarding than seeing a proud mother applauding as her child reciting a poem? Can there be more rewarding seeing a child bowing before an audience after a nerve-wrecking piano recital? Can there be more rewarding than seeing a young man holding an office in a very reputable company? These are but a few of the rewards of being a teacher. I will need all the time in the world to enumerate all. These rewards made me truly in love with the profession. These rewards made me discover my passion. But I once asked myself: “Will I survive this ever challenging world with passion alone? Will my passion lead me to my dreams for my family?” I quit teaching and ventured another field. I became this and that, but still my will is craving for the one I left behind. But if I were to go back to teaching, it wouldn’t be for money, but for the call of duty.