Figures, Part 2
Taking off from my previous entry, here’s my guest list for the dinner that I will host for everyday people in my life.
1. I don’t see much of her anymore in the entrance lobby, but this lady guard gives me special treatment every time I enter the building where my gym is. Unlike the others whose bags she would painstakingly scrutinize, she would accord me the most gracious welcome, much like the express check-in for first class passengers. She never checks my bag and, what’s more, she would engage me in brief happy talk all the time. And so, I will ask her to join me for dinner as my way of formally introducing myself. It’s funny, but we both don’t know each other’s name, however, that didn’t stop us from being nice and being friends. That’s exactly the statement I’d like to make with my invitation: That it doesn’t take so much effort to be friendly, but its rewards bountiful.
2. You will not miss Mang Andy when you go into the barbershop. Most of his hair is gray while some wait for a few more years to turn completely white. It is evident that all of his workmates there hold him in high regard. That’s probably why he’s stationed at the prime spot where it’s easy for him to be seen. Whenever I see him, I just park myself in the high chair and lull myself to sleep. He knows exactly how I like it done. But I won’t invite him for dinner to thank him for how he has managed to make me look human all this time, but for something more. I think Mang Andy deserves a tribute for a lifelong vocation of hardwork and selflessness. He has time and again narrated how he left Iloilo province when he was yet a minor to find work in Manila and establish his place in this world. Manila has seen him ripen to way past 60 years already. I will offer him a toast for a life meaningfully lived.
3. Lastly, I feel very strongly about inviting one saleslady from any of the many SM department store branches in Manila as a form of protest. For me, they represent the sad employment state in the country today. It’s not difficult to chance upon college graduates who, because of lack of job opportunities befitting their degrees as well as the need to stay alive, will swallow what’s left of their pride and work as salesladies or baggers. The harrowing experience doesn’t end there. Once they’re taken in, they suffer some more from lowly wages and depressing work conditions. For one, they are made to wear real short miniskirts as uniform not for aesthetics, but more as security precaution. It’d be difficult to shoplift and easier for the guard to do body search. And so, I will invite one of these ladies for dinner to provide a release for what otherwise would have been voiceless gripes that may build up inside her. So that the next day, when she reports to work, she feels a little better having been heard and appreciated and, more importantly, she will finally smile genuinely while attending to us.
1. I don’t see much of her anymore in the entrance lobby, but this lady guard gives me special treatment every time I enter the building where my gym is. Unlike the others whose bags she would painstakingly scrutinize, she would accord me the most gracious welcome, much like the express check-in for first class passengers. She never checks my bag and, what’s more, she would engage me in brief happy talk all the time. And so, I will ask her to join me for dinner as my way of formally introducing myself. It’s funny, but we both don’t know each other’s name, however, that didn’t stop us from being nice and being friends. That’s exactly the statement I’d like to make with my invitation: That it doesn’t take so much effort to be friendly, but its rewards bountiful.
2. You will not miss Mang Andy when you go into the barbershop. Most of his hair is gray while some wait for a few more years to turn completely white. It is evident that all of his workmates there hold him in high regard. That’s probably why he’s stationed at the prime spot where it’s easy for him to be seen. Whenever I see him, I just park myself in the high chair and lull myself to sleep. He knows exactly how I like it done. But I won’t invite him for dinner to thank him for how he has managed to make me look human all this time, but for something more. I think Mang Andy deserves a tribute for a lifelong vocation of hardwork and selflessness. He has time and again narrated how he left Iloilo province when he was yet a minor to find work in Manila and establish his place in this world. Manila has seen him ripen to way past 60 years already. I will offer him a toast for a life meaningfully lived.
3. Lastly, I feel very strongly about inviting one saleslady from any of the many SM department store branches in Manila as a form of protest. For me, they represent the sad employment state in the country today. It’s not difficult to chance upon college graduates who, because of lack of job opportunities befitting their degrees as well as the need to stay alive, will swallow what’s left of their pride and work as salesladies or baggers. The harrowing experience doesn’t end there. Once they’re taken in, they suffer some more from lowly wages and depressing work conditions. For one, they are made to wear real short miniskirts as uniform not for aesthetics, but more as security precaution. It’d be difficult to shoplift and easier for the guard to do body search. And so, I will invite one of these ladies for dinner to provide a release for what otherwise would have been voiceless gripes that may build up inside her. So that the next day, when she reports to work, she feels a little better having been heard and appreciated and, more importantly, she will finally smile genuinely while attending to us.
posted by J. @ 23:01
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