"Sorry seems to be the hardest word.", says that timeless song.
I don't know if it is just me or the whole world has suddenly turned apathetic to what "sorry" should mean.
It just seems that nowadays, hurting someone is like blinking.
Many people have become comfortable to taking for granted even those whom they say are the most important persons in their life. Many people have become careless of their actions and words, believeing that a single word can take it all back.
I grew up believing that saying sorry is as good as letting a part of you die in shame. I thought that letting that word come out your mouth makes you less of a person because you bluntly admit to a mistake, deliberately done or not.
Today, I stand corrected.
From a slight bump from that person beside you in the jeepney to the deepest cut in your heart done by the person you never imagined capable of doing it to you-- sorry has become an abused word.
People are now mindless of what their actions might cause, believing that saying sorry is all that's needed to fix the shattered pieces of your heart.
When you look long enough at the word--sorry--how much of it do you really take to heart and hold on to until that one, same person who said it over and over rips you apart again and expects to be forgiven again with just uttering that word and never proving it?
Saying sorry is one thing; proving you are is another. When he asks for forgiveness and you give it to him, but then hurts you again with the same mistake, will you accept the predictable outcome of another apology? How does he prove this time that he is genuinely sorry for a mistake he has already done for the nth time? How much beating do you have to take to finally stand up and tell yourself you've had enough? How much do you want your heart to bleed before mustering up the courage to move forward without him?
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
Can one abused word take it all back and make you whole again?
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
On simple hygiene
I know I mentioned I love riding jeepneys for the sense of nostalgia that creeps through my veins every time I do. However, there is this one pet peeve of mine that drives me nuts whenever I reach out my hands directly to the driver's.
Their hands just looks (and I believe are) teeming with all kinds of germs! Oh my graciousness, why can't they keep their hands decently clean? I mean, yes, they work with engines, wheels, coins, and all that, but those are not excuses to let dirt eat your hands all afternoon! It is not just disgusting to look at, it is plain unhygienic.
Of all the jeepneys I have rode in, there is this one driver that was, at least, conscious of his hands. I mean, after getting people's fares and putting these in his coin box, he wipes his hands (or his fingers, at the very least) with a rag.
Some people might say that this is just another rant, but hey, does it not bother you that different kinds of diseases are on their way to your system, and all they needed was a good pass from the driver's hands to yours?
Let's take a concrete ground wherein to base this judgement. If even once you observed a driver's hand as he reaches for the fare from your hands, you would see that a decent hand is barely visible. It is literally black all over with matching "eyebrows" on their fingernails. Just try observing, sweeties, and I wouldn't need any affirmation at all.
There were programs launched by relevant government agencies with regard to keeping drivers a pleasant sight to the public. Drivers were given deodorants and free services to dentists so they look good to the commuters.
Although being body odor and halitosis free are, no doubt, important, keeping their hands decently clean is equally important if they want to keep passengers helping them get the fares to their hands. That is as long as they do not develop stretchable hands ala lastikman or Dhalsim (of Street Fighter).
The thing is, the main interaction between driver and commuter is not armpit sniffing or face to face talking; it is a commuter (read: me and you) reaching a fare to the driver, touching each other's hands in the process. Now you may picture this scene in a romantic movie with everything going in slow motion as your hand touches the driver's, but this is not some chick flick wherein you fall in love at that moment with a Barry Manilow score for background. You are actually reaching for a great deal of germs there.
So do I have to write a letter to the MMDA or LTO or LTFRB to mandate drivers to keep their hands clean? Or do I just have to tap each jeepney driver and tell him to try washing his hands, at least?
What would you do?
Their hands just looks (and I believe are) teeming with all kinds of germs! Oh my graciousness, why can't they keep their hands decently clean? I mean, yes, they work with engines, wheels, coins, and all that, but those are not excuses to let dirt eat your hands all afternoon! It is not just disgusting to look at, it is plain unhygienic.
Of all the jeepneys I have rode in, there is this one driver that was, at least, conscious of his hands. I mean, after getting people's fares and putting these in his coin box, he wipes his hands (or his fingers, at the very least) with a rag.
Some people might say that this is just another rant, but hey, does it not bother you that different kinds of diseases are on their way to your system, and all they needed was a good pass from the driver's hands to yours?
Let's take a concrete ground wherein to base this judgement. If even once you observed a driver's hand as he reaches for the fare from your hands, you would see that a decent hand is barely visible. It is literally black all over with matching "eyebrows" on their fingernails. Just try observing, sweeties, and I wouldn't need any affirmation at all.
There were programs launched by relevant government agencies with regard to keeping drivers a pleasant sight to the public. Drivers were given deodorants and free services to dentists so they look good to the commuters.
Although being body odor and halitosis free are, no doubt, important, keeping their hands decently clean is equally important if they want to keep passengers helping them get the fares to their hands. That is as long as they do not develop stretchable hands ala lastikman or Dhalsim (of Street Fighter).
The thing is, the main interaction between driver and commuter is not armpit sniffing or face to face talking; it is a commuter (read: me and you) reaching a fare to the driver, touching each other's hands in the process. Now you may picture this scene in a romantic movie with everything going in slow motion as your hand touches the driver's, but this is not some chick flick wherein you fall in love at that moment with a Barry Manilow score for background. You are actually reaching for a great deal of germs there.
So do I have to write a letter to the MMDA or LTO or LTFRB to mandate drivers to keep their hands clean? Or do I just have to tap each jeepney driver and tell him to try washing his hands, at least?
What would you do?
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Change indeed
"Change has come to America."
That sums up a lot about the result of the United States' just-concluded national elections. For almost two years, both the Democratic and Republican parties fought hard to earn the votes of the American people; the democratic party exerting extra effort to penetrate the conservative political inclination of most Americans.
It was not an easy fight. It is not a simple battleground. It is the land of milk and honey. It is the promised land for many people. No matter how hard it takes to get pass the gates, most people try to their deaths just to get through to the most powerful nation in the world. Suffice it to say that this nation has been eyed by all kinds of people all over the world. Whatever happens in it and to it, the world is always affected.
A lot of people are apprehensive toward the economic game plan of the two presidential candidates. More than health and gender issues, people anxiously waited for them to lay out their concrete plans on the impending meltdown of the US economy. Because every nation is deemed affected by the recession that America is suffering from, every move that each candidate proposes is crucial.
John McCain was popular because of his strong ties with President George W. Bush. Was such credit rewarding for McCain? We all saw the news, polls, and the face of the new President.
He was on the defense whenever his proposed policies were associated with the unpopular policies of Pres. Bush--the Iraq and Afghanistan wars being the foreground of their (as much as their party's) unpopularity.
McCain was also at a disadvantage when it came to his running mate. Governor Sarah Palin made the people curious of her effect on McCain's race to the White House. It turned out that she pulled the ol' man downhill with her. Her inconsistent stands and actions were the driving forces of the people to totally shun her out of the possibility of taking the vice-presidential seat.
Considerably, McCain was more confident than his competitor. The US has been under Republican governance for two terms. With Bush as a Republican as his strong backer, McCain had certainly some foundation to lean on.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, was effortlessly (positively) popular because of his (per se) being revolutionary. The thought of the first black president stunned the world, but it also widened their perspective. Obama downplayed his color, thus racism, and strongly up played his strong economic policies. Although he was at a disadvantage because he firmly upholds tax increases as a means to help build up the economy again, people took him as an instrument for change.
With Obama's victory, we now ask: "What's in it for Filipinos?"
For the entire duration of the presidential race, Filipinos were anxious of the would-be result of the elections. Many have voiced out that they would be supportive of Obama because of his strong stance and firm principles. These were besides Obama being an epitome of a groundbreaking change for America and for the world, that is.
However, many also expressed dilemma because of Obama's business policy perspectives. The boom of call centers in the Philippines has created jobs for countless newly graduates who still cannot find the job that best suits their respective degrees. With Obama's explicit stand con outsourcing, call center companies and other ones who outsource service from the Philippines stand in the limelight for possible closure or retrenchment. Many are awed of Obama's courage to stand up and challenge the status quo, but many are also anxious of his ways of implementing his policies to save America from faltering to its belly, which is obviously precipitated by the economic crisis that is slowly crippling the rest of the world.
In this light I dare ask: Why put our country's fate upon another's?
I also dare answer: It is because we always have from time immemorial.
Ironically, since we have regained our freedom from foreign occupation and colonization, it is when we started depending our lives to foreign decisions and perspectives. We need not go back and trace history through the roots of imperialism--economic imperialism, that is.
The brunt of the on going struggle of the US economy against economic crisis has been felt in the Philippines despite deceitful denials of the government to admit that we are, indeed, affected by the crisis.
Should the US economy stumble and falter as the world's superpower country, what will be left of the Philippines that has become a slave of the US? How can the Philippine government accommodate millions of would-be unemployed Filipinos? How can public officials who claim to be public servants help the poorer Filipinos who will eventually become the poorest ones?
With all the scandals that the Philippine government is facing today, how else can we accommodate larger and more pressing issues--such as unemployment, poverty, and illiteracy--that plague the country every single day?
Why don't we ask ourselves what change can we do for the Philippines?
For once and for a better change, why don't we take small yet concrete steps toward strengthening the Filipino system?
For the best change that we can offer the country, why don't we try depending on ourselves and actually doing something to resolve our problems?
It is always fun to put the blame on everybody else but yourself, but is this the way we want to live when we cry for change on every single breath that we take?
Yes, we need a whole lot of changing to do, but why don't we pause for a while and ask ourselves what positive change can we offer this time.
Let us see if at the end of the day we can proudly say to ourselves that we have deviated from the mainstream flow of apathy and took a simple step toward activity and we have, indeed, made a change.
That sums up a lot about the result of the United States' just-concluded national elections. For almost two years, both the Democratic and Republican parties fought hard to earn the votes of the American people; the democratic party exerting extra effort to penetrate the conservative political inclination of most Americans.
It was not an easy fight. It is not a simple battleground. It is the land of milk and honey. It is the promised land for many people. No matter how hard it takes to get pass the gates, most people try to their deaths just to get through to the most powerful nation in the world. Suffice it to say that this nation has been eyed by all kinds of people all over the world. Whatever happens in it and to it, the world is always affected.
A lot of people are apprehensive toward the economic game plan of the two presidential candidates. More than health and gender issues, people anxiously waited for them to lay out their concrete plans on the impending meltdown of the US economy. Because every nation is deemed affected by the recession that America is suffering from, every move that each candidate proposes is crucial.
John McCain was popular because of his strong ties with President George W. Bush. Was such credit rewarding for McCain? We all saw the news, polls, and the face of the new President.
He was on the defense whenever his proposed policies were associated with the unpopular policies of Pres. Bush--the Iraq and Afghanistan wars being the foreground of their (as much as their party's) unpopularity.
McCain was also at a disadvantage when it came to his running mate. Governor Sarah Palin made the people curious of her effect on McCain's race to the White House. It turned out that she pulled the ol' man downhill with her. Her inconsistent stands and actions were the driving forces of the people to totally shun her out of the possibility of taking the vice-presidential seat.
Considerably, McCain was more confident than his competitor. The US has been under Republican governance for two terms. With Bush as a Republican as his strong backer, McCain had certainly some foundation to lean on.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, was effortlessly (positively) popular because of his (per se) being revolutionary. The thought of the first black president stunned the world, but it also widened their perspective. Obama downplayed his color, thus racism, and strongly up played his strong economic policies. Although he was at a disadvantage because he firmly upholds tax increases as a means to help build up the economy again, people took him as an instrument for change.
With Obama's victory, we now ask: "What's in it for Filipinos?"
For the entire duration of the presidential race, Filipinos were anxious of the would-be result of the elections. Many have voiced out that they would be supportive of Obama because of his strong stance and firm principles. These were besides Obama being an epitome of a groundbreaking change for America and for the world, that is.
However, many also expressed dilemma because of Obama's business policy perspectives. The boom of call centers in the Philippines has created jobs for countless newly graduates who still cannot find the job that best suits their respective degrees. With Obama's explicit stand con outsourcing, call center companies and other ones who outsource service from the Philippines stand in the limelight for possible closure or retrenchment. Many are awed of Obama's courage to stand up and challenge the status quo, but many are also anxious of his ways of implementing his policies to save America from faltering to its belly, which is obviously precipitated by the economic crisis that is slowly crippling the rest of the world.
In this light I dare ask: Why put our country's fate upon another's?
I also dare answer: It is because we always have from time immemorial.
Ironically, since we have regained our freedom from foreign occupation and colonization, it is when we started depending our lives to foreign decisions and perspectives. We need not go back and trace history through the roots of imperialism--economic imperialism, that is.
The brunt of the on going struggle of the US economy against economic crisis has been felt in the Philippines despite deceitful denials of the government to admit that we are, indeed, affected by the crisis.
Should the US economy stumble and falter as the world's superpower country, what will be left of the Philippines that has become a slave of the US? How can the Philippine government accommodate millions of would-be unemployed Filipinos? How can public officials who claim to be public servants help the poorer Filipinos who will eventually become the poorest ones?
With all the scandals that the Philippine government is facing today, how else can we accommodate larger and more pressing issues--such as unemployment, poverty, and illiteracy--that plague the country every single day?
Why don't we ask ourselves what change can we do for the Philippines?
For once and for a better change, why don't we take small yet concrete steps toward strengthening the Filipino system?
For the best change that we can offer the country, why don't we try depending on ourselves and actually doing something to resolve our problems?
It is always fun to put the blame on everybody else but yourself, but is this the way we want to live when we cry for change on every single breath that we take?
Yes, we need a whole lot of changing to do, but why don't we pause for a while and ask ourselves what positive change can we offer this time.
Let us see if at the end of the day we can proudly say to ourselves that we have deviated from the mainstream flow of apathy and took a simple step toward activity and we have, indeed, made a change.
A byutipul day
The gang decided to drop by a nearby beach because it was everybody's day off anyway. People can hang around, stay in cottages, and enjoy some good food, but if you want to take a dip, you should travel for an hour on a boat to the other side of the beach, and you have to pay P350. Because everybody was on a tight budget, we decided to just hang around and take the chance to catch up with one another.
I was startled by the screaming of the phone alarm. Ugh, the only beach I am in was my bed. Nice dream, anwyay.
My eyes are still heavy and my head is still on hibernation mode. The phone clock said 7:58 AM. Alright I have to get up. It's a wednesday morning and should I give in to the summons of my sleepy head, I would have to give up some portion of my salary, and I don't want that.
Blah blah blah blah
Besides riding two jeepneys, I still have to walk for a decent 15 minutes to get to work. No fuss. I need that exercise ahead of a 9-hour sitting spree at the office. It is also the only time of the day that I can get a healthy dose of the sun.
Blah blah blah blah
I was walking blankly when halfway through, some mother-ish woman looked up at me and said:
"Hello, byutipul."
I smirked thinking that was my record-breaking early morning hallucinatory phase. I was about to dismiss it when some guy I was walking with smiled at me and looked at the woman who was two meters from us now.
Ok, I wasn't hallucinating after all. This time, I was smiling.
I was startled by the screaming of the phone alarm. Ugh, the only beach I am in was my bed. Nice dream, anwyay.
My eyes are still heavy and my head is still on hibernation mode. The phone clock said 7:58 AM. Alright I have to get up. It's a wednesday morning and should I give in to the summons of my sleepy head, I would have to give up some portion of my salary, and I don't want that.
Blah blah blah blah
Besides riding two jeepneys, I still have to walk for a decent 15 minutes to get to work. No fuss. I need that exercise ahead of a 9-hour sitting spree at the office. It is also the only time of the day that I can get a healthy dose of the sun.
Blah blah blah blah
I was walking blankly when halfway through, some mother-ish woman looked up at me and said:
"Hello, byutipul."
I smirked thinking that was my record-breaking early morning hallucinatory phase. I was about to dismiss it when some guy I was walking with smiled at me and looked at the woman who was two meters from us now.
Ok, I wasn't hallucinating after all. This time, I was smiling.
Most things do not surprise me anymore. I mean, when walking down the street and some man greets me, I just greet him back and go on. I find it normal and neccessary that men express how they feel when they see an ehem-ehem attractive lady. I'm serious. Can any woman say that they have not been greeted by some stranger (a man) at any single moment of their lives? It's something we have lived with since we realized that men and women naturally get attracted to each other and vice versa (Set aside the liberalism, please.).
For a man to appreciate a woman's beauty, that is something natural, at least for me. For a woman to appreciate another woman's beauty, now that is something.
Most of the time, when a guy says: "Ganda nun o!", a woman would say: "Hindi naman eh." or "Ok lang. Walang boobs.(hahaha!)"
Seriously, people say that men and women appreciate the same sex in a very different level. That is why I have come to believe that a woman saying another woman is beautiful is more sincere than a man in the same situation.
This is not a chauvinistic remark against men, but I just think that men can always say that a woman is pretty without thinking about it. Oftentimes, wherever whenever, men just say: "Miss, ganda mo ah." or "Hi, ganda." It is not that I do not appreciate it, but the remarks are so abused that I want to barf everytime I hear it.
Today, I have nothing against the roughly similar remark-- 'cause that lady sure does know how to byutipuly start someone else's otherwise lazy and ordinary day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
