PARTY POOPERS!

    After attending a truly enjoyable children’s party, my thoughts meander towards some negative behavioral tendencies of Filipinos …… in parties.

     First offense I immediately recall is our propensity to be late for events.  Without considering it, we add to the concerns of our hosts since they plan and structure the party program following a certain time frame.  As a solution, most invitations announce the event for an earlier time than what it would actually be.  The reasoning is that guests can come late but still be on time; if ever there is such a thing.  As if a wrong can right another wrong!   Sheesh!  A lot of people think it is fashionable to be late!

     This brings to mind a story I read somewhere about ambassadors and members of diplomatic communities cruising around the venue of an event to time their arrival at the appropriate moment stated in the invitation. 

     In ordinary Filipino life, woe to those who arrive on time because they will be met by a somber venue with even the celebrators in absentia!  You will even find the caterer’s personnel in the process of setting up tables, chairs and food dishes.  Now, if the venue is booked for the ACTUAL time that the hosts planned, you will also have to sweat it out because for sure, the air-conditioner is yet not turned on.  Thankfully, the party starts but the room, nevertheless, is half empty.  The hosts are constrained to start so the program commences. 

    And, now I go to our second misdemeanor in parties….

     When the party starts, guests, especially because they arrived late, get so involved in their personal chitchat that you seldom find even a handful paying attention to what the program emcee/party host is saying.  It seems like a most difficult task for the emcee to get the audience and party guests to participate in the fun and games.  Painfully, I have often witnessed party hosts pulling out all the tricks of their trade just to get the guests to dive into the party mood and get things going; just like a dentist extracting a molar. 

     I’ve experienced one party where the party host just totally gave up the idea of games because even with a prepared list of participants, no one stepped up to join!  It looked like the guests were there just to dance to the band’s music.  Segueway to after the program,  the band started to play and only a couple or two stood up to dance.  So it was not the music they were waiting for.  Thus, the party ended with the band, which was booked for THREE (3) sets of play, not even finishing their first set because the room suddenly emptied.  It gave me a feeling that the guests only came for the food which was certainly good, by the way!  What an epic fail of a party and what a waste of money! 

     Anaconda also told of a wedding party where when the groom was to give his thank-you spiel, only members of the couple’s families and some closest of friends remained.  The groom commented that “ay wala nang tao” ( oh, the guests have gone!)  Again, the idea that they only came for the food started to niggle. 

     Third common error we commit during parties is actually just the fault of the sound technicians.  They tend to play some of the loudest music during meal time.  Without realizing that this is the only instance when guests could interact with each other and catch up with goings-on, the sound men, with the blessing of the hosts, come up with a play list of the songs.  Unfortunately, they seem to think that they need to fill the venue with the sounds.  The music just utterly blares that you could hardly hear yourself.  

     I regularly comment to hosts that when guests come to your event, they indirectly honor you and the occasion you wish to celebrate.  Gifts are inconsequential because once a person confirms his/her attendance, he/she starts to incur a sizable expense by travelling to and from the venue on top of ensuring that he/she is wearing the right attire for the occasion.  Hey – have you checked out the prices of fuel and clothes and shoes these days?  It goes without saying that most people move around in the same circle of friends and associates and, therefore, meet the same people again and again in parties.  One, therefore, cannot wear the same attire to each and every occasion. 

     On the other hand, guests should realize that when they are invited, hosts are simply saying that they are an important part of the hosts’ lives and that they would like to share this occasion with the guests.  To return this compliment, guests should immediately take the effort to RSVP or respond to the invitations so that the hosts could draw up an accurate count for their preparations.  Guests must likewise ensure that they are appropriately attired in accordance with the party motif.  Once at the party, it is common courtesy to listen and watch the program that the hosts have prepared.  When called on to participate, do let your hair down and plunge right into the activity.  Allow the hosts to set the party mood and direction.  All you need to do is pay attention and enjoy!  No one wants a killjoy and a party pooper as guest!  It is a sure ticket to being uninvited the next time around and you will stew in your own ignorance wondering why! 

    And, for heaven’s sake, do not make a French leave!  Have the decency to properly say your goodbyes to the hosts.  Express to them how much you have enjoyed the party and the company and sincerely mean it. 

     Keep in mind – tardiness is rudeness.  It is inconsiderate. 

     Remember, too, that you are attending a party and not a wake!  Put your game face on and bring your jubilant party mood for everyone to share!           

CHILD OF THE 21st CENTURY

               

                    

     We reside in a suburban subdivision.  Not the classy, wealthy type of community but the middle class type where almost all members of households need to go out to earn their daily bread.  It is common to see both mother and father travel to work in the morning to come home at night tired and fatigued by work and traffic.  It is, therefore, common, too, for families to rely on grandmothers, grandfathers and any other available member of the family to tend to the upbringing of the young ones.  Because times are hard and maybe not all couples have relatives to depend on for child care, children seem to be too few and too far in between the houses. 

     In our block alone, Little Guy is the only male child.  One neighbor across our domicile has a couple of little girls that even after a few years, I have never personally sighted.  The couple next door has a teenage son while a few kids live two streets down.  Despite the government’s view that our population needs to be curbed, I have one question constantly in mind.  Where are all the children?  I seldom see children running and playing in the streets even when it’s summertime.  This is something quite unlike my own and my kids’ upbringing!

     A few years back, our electric posts had notices of a missing child who was snatched away in our village.   This could be one reason that parents are quite paranoid about letting their children run around the streets no matter how private and safe we may think our place to be.  And, this must be prevalent in most residential areas. 

Sketch made by TitaBoom

Drawing by Little Guy 

How does a child get from being a fat cutie to an       undecipherable warrior freak?

     As a consequence, Little Guy has no real playmate to speak of.  He roams around in his imagination with plenty of virtual playmates.  His days are spent with Ben 10, Ironman, the Ninja Turtles, the Backyardigans, Dora and Boots, Diego the animal rescuer, Tom and Jerry, and even the idiotic Spongebob! 

     Because we hope to monitor Little Guy’s development, there is always at least one member of the family that need to sit through all the mindless stories churned out by all the cartoon networks.   There was a time when Ben 10 was banned because in his arrogance, Ben was often insulting to his family.  Whoa!  It’s something we don’t want Little Guy to emulate.  Forever not viewable is Max and Ruby because Max is also a downright foolish and rude kid!  Our own favorites are Finn and Jake of Adventure Time.  Both characters are sweet and always just aim to be good in their adventures as they travel from place to place.  It doesn’t detract from the show too that the characters are quirky and have special features such as one princess who speaks Japanese.  Note that this princess is the girlfriend of Jake the dog!  There is another princess whose “talkies” is dubbed by a male voice!  The latter character has had all of us imitating it from time to time when we are feeling cheeky or playful.  It’s no surprise that even Little Guy’s godmother downloads the episodes for her own viewing when she has the time. 

     Fun as all this may sound, it just is not normal.  One day, Wacky needs to be Raphael to his Michaelangelo while he gets to choose who will be Leonardo and April.  The next day, he wants me to be Gwen while he is Ben 10.  From day to day, the characters change.  Often, he would emerge from his room with the costume of the character of the day; Spiderman, Green Lantern, Ninja Turtle, Ben 10 with his omnitrix, Buzz Lightyear and some other friends that he has met on television.   He would appear with all kinds of props such as sword and long guns (made from folded newspapers!)  The other members of the family would then need to play supporting cast to his character!  When a program is shown on television, he would immediately quip that he is the hero whoever that hero may be at the moment.  I am just so afraid Little Guy is turning into a schizophrenic with multiple personalities!   Just like the typical busy mom, Anaconda (my daughter/his mom) takes this in stride and has informed me that this is normal for kids these days.  Apparently, she has discussed this behavior with a lot of her officemates who have the same experience or who have neighbors who have the same experience.  Oh okay!  If it’s okay with the mother, it’s fine with me! 

     So Little Guy continues his adventures and we try to accommodate his imagination as much as possible.  Of course, it doesn’t stop us from having some fun at his expense such as instructing him to wear his briefs externally when in a hero costume – ‘cause that’s the way superheroes wear them!  Take a look at Superman and Batman!

     To fill his need for real social exchange, Little Guy takes lessons in martial arts where he gets to interact with boys aged 9 to 13.  Hahahahahah - again, ABNORMAL because Little Guy just turned 7!  So we occasionally bring him to Kidz Republic where he gets to play rough and tumble with other little kids.  He comes out exhilarated and tells us he has made a few friends. 

     We ask him, “What’s their names?”

     He answers, “I don’t know.”

     HELP!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LY!

     I often called it “maltiempo” or bad time/timing, as far as I can interpret.  Unfortunately, my cousin, Lyja, is stricken with this.  I attribute it primarily to her being a “menopause baby” with her mother and father already advanced in years when she came into being.  When she was born, her youngest sibling, at that point, was already in his mid-teens. 

     It was no wonder, therefore, that she was always out of the loop with what were happening in their household.  She even ate her meals separate from her siblings because while everybody else was rushing to finish, she was meticulously picking on her food for hours.  She was constantly followed around by her “yaya” Pilang, an old maid who was prone to expressing herself in Visayan terms such as “pisting yawa”, “ ano ba ining bata na ini” and others that I can’t now quite recall.   Yaya Pilang was her companion at all times and she always needed to chase after my cousin come meal times. 

     Because I was an only girl with three brothers, Lyja was naturally drawn to my company.  She would come to our house for dinner bringing her own food in a bowl.  That was because my three brothers would take turns taunting her and pushing her out of the door.  No amount of teasing made her leave because she felt she had a right to be with us.  The attraction may be that we were a younger household.  And, I guess, her right in the family had been installed by Mama, herself, who often declared that she nursed Lyja with her own breast milk when the latter was an infant.  You see, my aunt became ill after giving birth to her and was unable to take care of Lyja.  My uncle felt compelled to give the baby to another family but my strong-willed mother put her foot down and argued that she can nurse my cousin instead.  Of course, it was quite fortunate that Mama was herself in her late pregnancy with my brother, Dick.   As Mama related, there came a time when she was nursing two babies at the same time. 

     Being of the same age, Dick and Lyja started school together.  Probably because my aunt had been weak through her pregnancy, Lyja was sickly too.  That was the reason she had to stop for one year and I caught up with her in school.  I think, having another little girl to play with was just too pleasant for her.  Being the more senior child, she always had her way with me.  Not to mention, of course, the fact that Mama always told me to accede to whatever Lyja wanted since she was often ill.  Mama regretted this instruction when I came home one day with my beautiful long tresses (that Mama took great care to curl and style) cut with a “patilya” or sideburns at the side!  Horrible!  You see, my cousin had and still has one great passion and that is cutting hair!  She thinks she can be one great hair stylist!  

Cousins

     At any rate, Lyja always had them all fooled.  She looked frail and weak but deep inside was one naughty, fighting, little girl.   My brother, Dick, must be able to attest to that because she pinched him every time she didn’t get her way.  She also picked fights in school and brought him to her enemies so he could box them.  Of course, by the time we were on the same grade, I was the one doing all her boxing for her!  Hahahahahahah…..  those were fun times because the fights somehow satisfied the war craving in me! 

     Looking saintly with a little devil peeking out, Lyja got into plenty of exploits with me as accomplice.   One really funny episode in our student life was when we were penalized by being made to commute from school on our own for an entire month.  We were then studying in a Chinese school in the Chinatown district.  The reason for the penalty was that we got too busy watching a volleyball game that we totally forgot about the family driver waiting for us just outside the school grounds.  We got home quite late and both got an earful of tongue-lashing!  True to our mischievous nature, the penalty became one big adventure.  We were quite ignorant on how to commute home so we opted to walk the long, long way home.  Along the various routes we unraveled, we discovered the intricate ins and outs of Sta. Cruz and Quiapo.   The best find we prided in was Little Quiapo, a nondescript restaurant along Rizal Avenue that served a wonderful concoction of halo-halo.   Unknown to our elders, this was where our transportation money was going to.  It was heaven especially for Lyja because she was always forbidden to drink anything cold at home.  Talk of over protection.  I’d say this was one of the best growing up experience both of us ever had.  Not only did we get to see the chaos of city life, it was also the time we discovered we could resell our used books!  There, we found our extra income! 

     Our teen years were unfortunately quite disparate.  Mama was liberal about allowing me to camps, soirees and seminars.   Lyja, on the other hand, had to stay close to home as demanded by her older brothers.  They were very strict with her and life must have been very boring.  She took the strictures with calm acceptance and it was only now and then that a rebellious tendency would show.  It helped that Mama was open-minded about conspiring with us.  All Lyja had to do was ask permission to spend the night with us and off we went to whatever party with our friends and “barkada”.   It was their routine, too, that one of her brothers would call late at night to check on her.  They were no match to Mama, who felt no remorse in lying to them by saying that we were asleep as we got tired chatting!  Dear Mama! 

     I could talk on and on about our escapades but time does not allow it.  Suffice it to say that up to our senior years, Lyja and I are still happily together.  She claims that she never married because she was so intimidated by having to raise a family as she watched me cope with it through the past years.  This, of course, is belied by the fact that she helped me raise my children especially the two youngest ones.  I am grateful that her practicality in life and its options has rubbed off on them.  More grateful am I for how her cool disposition always tempered my fiery take on our day to day experiences. 

     Lyja is much older now.  The devil in her is still hiding and peeking out now and then.  She tells me, “ Don’t be angry.  Make others angry!”  She falls asleep in front of the television and can snore through any program.  Put off the television and she would wake up.  She claims the noise from the boob tube lulls her to sleep.  I snicker over this because I know for a fact that so many other things lull her to sleep.  She falls asleep while reading the newspaper.  Surprisingly, you would find her with her hands still holding the newspaper up.  She also falls asleep while worshipping on her feet with her hands raised up high.  The only time you will realize that she is asleep is when she soft pedals backward!  Mean old me, I snicker over these occasions too!  My bad, really!

     Aging she may be but she never fails to offer her services when she feels it is needed.  If one member of the family falls sick, she is immediately by their side; offering to watch over and care for them.  In our household, she comes up with all kinds of foul-smelling concoctions that surprisingly work wonders on whatever ailments we may have.  She comes up with all kinds of remedies for illnesses and because she occasionally engages in network marketing of food supplement, some relatives misinterpret it as financial motive.   Like me, they can be quite bad!

     What I truly appreciate about my cousin is her capacity to love without conditions.  I love that she cannot seem to find fault with my blatant eccentricities; that she laughs over the cranky comments I make when I get pissed.  She wonderfully thinks I am superwoman and drives me to be such because she thinks so!  I preciously value her presence in my life because she is one person who can see through all of my disguises and still love me.

     Today is her day so I thought to share a little glimpse to the remarkable personality of this wispy and dear cousin of mine.

     Happy birthday, Laly.  Thank you for sharing your life and love with us.  We truly love you!  

THE LITTLE GUY CHRONICLES 3

     At home, there is now a renewed interest to review, reread and study the Bible.  You see, Little Guy is going to be seven very soon and he should be prepared to receive his First Communion.

   

     His school is non-sectarian and, therefore, does not have a Religion subject.  Catechism is taught once a week, during lunch break, and held informally at the stairs landing at the top floor of their school building.

     Little Guy is now of an age when he and some friends have learned to skip the Catechism class.  They ask to be excused to go to the toilet and never get back.  Imagine, cutting classes at age seven!

     Wacky then decides that he will no longer attend this class and will instead be home tutored.  Having been a volunteer catechist while in school, Wacky feels that the task should not prove too much of a challenge. 

     I buy a Catechism book to use as guide.  Little Guy takes to it with such delight and requests that he read through it first before we seriously sit down on the lessons.  He stays glued to this book for days.

     One night, while getting ready to sleep, he asks his mother, “Mommie, do you know about Moses?”

     Mommie, confident of her knowledge of Moses, emphatically says, “Of course!”

     “Do you know what his punishment was?”  Little Guy counters.

     Hmmmm…. Mommie suddenly feels tricked into a sticky situation.  With bravado, though, she says, “ Yes, of course!” and holds her breath.

     Thankfully, Little Guy suddenly quips, “He never got to enter the Promised Land!”

     Deep, grateful breaths from Mommie, who could only say, “Yes!”

     Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

* * * * *

     Anaconda (anak kong maganda or my beautiful daughter) as Mommie wants to be referred to, comes to me afterwards.

     “Ma, what is this about Moses not entering the Promised Land?”

   

     “Yup.  God led him to a mountain so he could see the Promised Land.  He never got to enter it, though, because that was his punishment for losing his temper and striking the rock more times than God's instruction.  You should read about that.  This story is one of the most touching stories I have encountered.”

     “OMG!  I must read the Bible!  This Little Guy might trip me up the next time!”

     Poor Mommie!  Poor, poor Mommie!   

TALK ABOUT WEDDINGS!

     Clients, please, let me assure you that this is not about you. 

     I simply want to recall some of the funniest weddings I have ever encountered. Incidents that happened prior to, during and after weddings that were truly hilarious as well as thought-provoking! 

     So, this stormy day, Youngest Daughter and I talk about wedding anecdotes that I can remember and unbelievably, these are purely culled from experiences of family members.

     My biggest blessing in life, I can truly declare, was having a very voluble mother with an elephant’s memory for details.  Mama had a treasure trove of awfully comical episodes during family events especially weddings because she was always in the hub of the activities as part planner and part executor.  Despite being young at those times, I could still vividly picture her animation when recounting these family secrets.   

     Most of my older male cousins on my Chinese side were married off observing the traditional pre-arranged marriage.  First, a matchmaker would be consulted on possible matches based on birth signs and family backgrounds.  Then, the protagonists were introduced.  Often, “accidental” meetings were organized so that the youngsters can size up the other party.  If both liked what they saw, then a formal introduction was managed.  From there, parents supervised the dating process until such time that they decided it time to hold the formal engagement. 

     Traditional Chinese engagement parties are colorful events with both affianced families preparing months in advance to pull off a proper one.  As far as I can remember, the family of the prospective groom brings with them offerings of food, bales of fabrics for the bride’s trousseau, and sets of jewelry.  This, of course, would include the engagement ring the size of which would have been previously discussed and agreed upon by the mothers. 

     I remember watching from the sidelines as adults busied themselves preparing all those offerings for the bride’s family.  They used big red containers that resembled extra large size “prembrera”s to store the food items such as misua, fruits, cans of pork legs, red “ampao”s, siopao-like mamons made from sweet potato flour.  All items were symbolical of something good for the forthcoming marriage.

     The engagement ceremony, frankly, never interested me and all I could recall is that the couple would do the rounds of elders offering misua with egg in small bowls and something that looked like dehydrated dates in sweetened water.  Elders from both families were introduced and given the opportunity to get to know each other better.  Honestly, I don’t think they even cared about the young couple getting married.  What must have been paramount was the network, and new family ties that were being cemented! 

     Even then, I had this impression that Chinese weddings were never taxing to the bride or groom.  It was always the mothers who worked to pull off a grand event.  Depending upon religious beliefs, wedding ceremonies were held either in a Catholic/Protestant church or the social hall belonging to the family’s affiliation.  By the latter, I refer to the association of families with the same surnames or those who claim to have originated from the same village in China.  Reception was either held in restaurants or spacious ancestral homes.  An open house was held where the newly married couple’s bedroom displayed all the jewelry, gift checks, trousseau, and appliances brought in by the bride and groom.  Everything was laid out for guests’ inspection.  Thus, another wedding wrapped up and mothers preened before everybody and hoped that the event will be mentioned in the newspapers as well as discussed in social gatherings. 

     With the best of intentions and planning, however, something or rather, someone, almost always got upset! 

     One indelible memory is of a male cousin sobbing and crying all the way to the wedding ceremony simply because he was so against his own marriage!  Months prior to the event, arguments raged between him and my uncle because he just was not ready.  But – it was a good match and he was of age.  It had to be done!   Like any obedient child of that generation, he dutifully married the chosen bride in between tearful hiccups and lived a peaceful and fruitful life to this day.  They now boast of a lawyer, a doctor, a topnotch computer geek, and a retired CFO of a multinational among their successful brood.  Not bad.  Proof of the marriage’s stability is a recent incident when a pretty young lady came to visit.  The wife opened the door and immediately knew it was for her husband.  How she knew?  The lady looked exactly like their daughter!  Apparently, this young lady is my cousin’s illegitimate daughter that he lost touch with.  Anyway, she just wanted him to walk her down the aisle – that was all she asked.  The wife was cool with it.  No fuss!

     Another cousin was married with an extended coverage of scandal in the newspapers immediately after the engagement.   Without the knowledge of both pairs of parents, it appeared that my cousin’s fiancée had a boyfriend vehemently fighting to keep his girl.  He was poor albeit with plenty of contacts in the media.  Sadly, he would never have measured up to the girl’s family’s financial standards.  Much like modern day scandals, the boyfriend resorted to publishing pictures of the illicit lovers in compromising situations.  Something seldom heard of in those days.  My uncle was having second thoughts about pushing through with the wedding and was often heard to be saying that he bought the wrong merchandise.  In the end, with the girl’s parents relentlessly pursuing the union, my cousin married this lady.   Noteworthy, of course, was the obvious sign of pregnancy of the bride!  Another eyebrow-raising development!  From the get-go, this was a union marked by hysterical and noisy bickering.  My cousin soon learned to simply walk out and return home only when things cooled down.  Now in their seventies, they look like they lived a happy life even though many secrets remained  unraveled.

     The formal engagement of another cousin was marked with much antagonism.  The problem arose from the fact that my aunt could not find the size of diamond for the engagement ring as per agreement.  She made a trip to Hongkong to find such a one to no avail.  Since the engagement day was predetermined by feng shui, she was constrained to buy the next best thing.  The future bride’s mother did not take too kindly to this shortcoming and chose to snub the groom’s family throughout the ceremony.  All their gifts were returned after the engagement ceremony which fact sent my aunt crying all the way home.  Traditionally, you see, the gifts must be divided at the end of the day with the future bride’s family retaining half and sending back the other half.  Returning everything simply meant that the union was not approved of.  By this time, however, my cousin and his fiancée had fallen in love and could no longer be deterred from going ahead with the wedding.  Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha… nothing that the bride’s mother could do could distance the future bride from her groom.  The wedding pushed through as scheduled so I guess, they were not that obedient a generation, after all!  My cousin was quite a catch; good-looking, personable and a board exam topnotcher to boot!  They, too, created a happy, loving and spiritual life together.  They had the usual financial challenges but they remained such an ideal couple until my cousin passed away from illness some years back. 

     A favorite wedding episode is that of another cousin, my uncle’s illegitimate son.  Notwithstanding his status, he was accepted openly in the family with my kind hearted aunt leading by example.  When it was time, however, for him to be married, my normally gentle aunt suddenly put her foot down to my uncle’s presence at the event.  Her reason was that the prospective bride being the daughter of a well respected, high profile, wealthy merchant in the community, it was going to be a high profile wedding.  For my uncle to appear beside his mistress and show themselves off to the society as father and mother of the groom will bring my aunt much shame.  Undaunted, my uncle was decided to grace the wedding.  He did not reckon that my aunt locked up all of his garments the night before and he was in his undergarments the whole day with every one of us watching his moves.  Anyway, the wedding went ahead.   This couple proved to one and all that their relationship was sturdy and steadfast.  In their late sixties, they are still together and still manage to travel all over the world.  The lady in this union, however, is one stubborn woman whose very words are followed as the law in their home.  It had been their way since they were young until the time when they raised their five sons.  Surprisingly, you would think that this lady would have learned her lesson from her own botched up wedding but no. 

     When her eldest son was of marrying age, she started vetting possible candidates for his bride.  One had him smitten and the young ones, of their own accord, developed a loving relationship.  When it was time to discuss the engagement and wedding, my cousins and four of their sons went to the lady’s family to formally arrange the details of the union.  Through the discussion, the two mothers argued about petty details and my cousin-in-law, the vixen that she had always been, suddenly stood up and declared that this union is not possible.  When she glanced at the male members of her family, all of them stood up in unison and silently trooped out of the meeting much like a bunch of soldiers marching to her drum. 

     Soon, the young couple eloped! So as not to make her son appear dishonorable, my cousin-in-law arranged for them to be married.  The wedding was conducted not so much in conformity with tradition but simply to formalize the union.  Not a member of the bride’s family came and she was in tears all throughout the ceremony. 

     Of course, all has now been forgiven by the bride’s family; especially when the grandkids started arriving. 

     Now and then, I get to wonder how these characters could quibble and scandalize over some details and yet, notwithstanding the furious thunder and lightning attending preparations, the weddings still went through!   Up to now, I wonder if there is a formula to parentally arranged marriages that these couples, in spite of the faulty starts, lived in wedded bliss and balance to their old age. 

     It just reminds me of that post in Facebook that I saw and shared one time.  An obviously old couple was discussing what they did right in their union and one said, “That’s because we belong to that generation where when things are broken, we don’t throw them away.  We fix them.”   I guess, these couples must have done plenty of fixing through the years. 

THE LITTLE GUY CHRONICLES 2

     On a road trip.  We discuss the possibility of going on an out-of-town trip.  Just The Hubby, I and the Little Guy. 

      Little Guy suddenly asks, “Lala, what is 'po' and 'opo' in English?”

      “There is no 'po' or 'opo' in English.”

      “So, okay why don’t we just speak English all the time?”  This is his solution to the constant nagging he gets about using "po" and "opo" when talking to elders.

     “Okay, we do speak to you in English all the time.  You’re the one who starts to speak in Tagalog especially when you go to school.  You come home speaking Tagalog and with a provincial accent I don’t recognize!”

     The Hubby says, “That’s right.”

     Little Guy, “Lala, may I whisper something to you?”

     “Sure.”

     Little Guy, “Lala, Lolo speaks poor English.”

     Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…. and we arrive home.

* * * * *

     The Little Guy is punished for watching too much cartoons on television. 

     Henceforth, for one week, Little Guy may only watch Discovery or National Geographics.

     Off Lala and The Hubby go.

    Constrained to watch a show about Uranus, Little Guy becomes fascinated with what he hears.

     Suddenly, he says, “ Tatin, are there people like us in outer space?”

     “Maybe not.  Scientists have failed to ascertain that this is so.”

     “Why would God create such a universe with all the planets if there is no human life there?”

     Tatin goes…huh….. where do I get the answer for that!

* * * * *

     Homeroom teacher calls the attention of Little Guy about his handwriting.

    Teacher says, “  Little Guy, try to write more legibly.  I could not understand what you have written here.”

   Little Guy stands up and goes near Teacher.  Peering over his paper, he says, “Okay, Teacher.  Point to me the parts you do not understand and I will explain them to you one by one!”

* * * * *

     Guidance Counsellor visits Little Guy’s class to conduct reading comprehension evaluation.  The students read a short article about the wind.

     Guidance Counsellor then asks, “Is the wind important?”

     “Yes!” everybody answers.

     “Okay.  Little Guy, why don’t you tell your classmates why wind is important?”

    “Wind is important because it helps supply oxygen to human beings.”  And he goes explaining about clean air, energy etc.

     Guidance Counsellor says, “Thank you, Little Guy.  That is enough.”

     “But, Teacher, I’m not yet done!”

     Guidance Counsellor simply smiles because what was written in the article was that wind is important because “it helps man” period!

FEELING WELL AGAIN!

     Friends and followers (ahem!) have been wondering why my blogsite has come to a standstill.  Well, suffice it to say that Wacky has been heartbroken!  For the past so many weeks, the Wacky in me just could not find any joy to share so I stopped writing.  After all, my goal for the blog is to share whatever little laughter there is in life, whenever, however, wherever, whatever and forever.  The light of happiness temporarily dimmed and I simply cocooned in the darkness for a while.

     Just the same, Wacky cannot forever sit still.  This is, after all, about rising above all obstacles, debacles, manacles and any other “cles” that may sometimes pop up!  This is about moving on and facing the future – maybe even more cheerful, more wacky and definitely, more courageous than before for all the lessons learned.

     After grieving for my futile search of lofty ideals, it is time to dust off the debris of moral battle.  Much like the Man from La Mancha, Wacky must journey on not so much in search of chivalry; but more to fathom the re-engineered concepts of honor and righteousness in modern times.  Somehow, there are more windmills to conquer in the near horizon so Wacky must march on.  Who knows?  We may gather allies searching for the same set of ideals along our way.  Sometime in the future, we may grow into a multitude of like-minded friends that will be strong enough to overcome the rising tide of malice and evil that now prevails in our environment.

     Meanwhile, I will hold tight to the ancient concept of Yin and Yang and trust in the balance the my Creator installed.  As they often say, when evil prevails, there rises a good that will ultimately vanquish it!