When Love Goes Blind

I am an official Tumblrista, that is, I use Tumblr whenever and wherever I could. You may call it addiction. Like any other blogging platforms (Blogspot and Wordpress), Tumblr lets you create your own web log for free. And since the blog is yours, you can post anything you want from everyday banalities to nationalistic non-pride. Is there even a word? Non-pride? Dispride? Pridelessness? Whatever. Go figure.

See, I’ve encountered on Tumblr a bunch of Filipinos that put our race to shame; like announcing to the whole virtual world, “I’M NOT PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO!!!!!” And yes, with their Caps Lock on and excessive use of exclamation marks. And in a few, these public proclamations of dishonor become the center of criticisms, spreading like wildfire nationally and even globally. Fellow Filipinos would become angry (“Then get the f*ck out of this country!”) or even murderous (“G*go ka! Mamatay ka na lang sana!”). I, on the other hand, remain silent and just proceed with the next post. Not that I feel indifferent on the issue but that I myself don’t know exactly whether to feel this so-called “love of country”.

TGIF

I was busy sipping my slushie while talking with Patricia when my sight caught the "shining, shimmering, widening forehead". He entered the 24-hour convenience store and I smiled at him. Hey, the person was no ordinary guy; Sir Herdy is one of the best bloggers in the country, a fearless journalist, a teacher and the author of one of my favorite books. Sir Herdy smiled back. Then he went with his task, buy something or two from the shelves.

Coffee commercials and careers

I was busy reviewing for a major exam the next day when this commercial was aired:

The sun rises and clouds drift in a speeded time lapse. A woman drinks her morning coffee, sets it down, holds some pieces of paper while saying, “Nasusulat na ni Junior ang kanyang pangalan. Si Caloy naman, marunong nang magbilang (Junior can now write his name while Caloy already knows how to count.).”

The scene then changes to a school setting. Children ran out from the classroom and helped the woman to her way inside. “Sila ang aking mga anak. Ang dahilan kung bakit ganado akong bumabangon araw-araw. (They are my children. They keep me motivated to wake up each morning.)”

Scene shifts to a classroom setting, the woman teaching a number of grade school pupils. “Milyun-milyon kaming bumabangon para sa kabataan. (There’s a million of us who wake up for the youth.)”

Then the scene changed for the last time, the woman drinking from her coffee mug once more. “Ikaw, para kanino ka bumabangon? (Who do you wake up for?)”

The last line stayed in my mind, an achievement for a guy who has neurotic ADHD. I asked myself the question, “Para kanino nga ba ako bumabangon?”