Yesterday was the Prez's birthday. That meant going to Makati the second time this week. It also meant taking the jeepney and the bus again. Yes, I still am too chicken to drive in the big city.
But it was one of the best days of the recent years.
The jeepney driver conducted his trade like a pro, like a very dignified pro. He called the motherly commuters "mommy" and asked "paki bilang po kung tama ang sukli." He addresed everyone with "po" and always said "thank you" each time a fare was handed to him. There truly is dignity in every work we do, in every job there is. And people can truly make simple things grand. That driver could have made a great COO or VP for Customer Service! You think of that and you remember the assholes in your offices, assholes in coat and tie, assholes in Floursheim and Lumberjack, assholes in corporate pigeonholes, in impeccable corporate English fcuk-you's.
And you feel good meeting common workers like that driver and you thank God for showing you some human decency and you realize all is not lost.
I got off the jeepney feeling alive, walked a little to the national road. While I was about to cross the street, I noticed an old lady rooted to the ground and was uneasy looking at all types of vehicles, big and small moving to and from the old San Pedro National Road. She was just about two feet from where I stood so I asked her if she wanted to cross the street. She looked up at me (she had this little stoop) and nodded and said timidly "opo." She must be about 80 years old and she addressed me with this ennobling Filipino word "opo"! She must have been standing there long and nobody cared to help her cross the street! Argh!
So I moved to her left and took her hand and we crossed the street together. Since the old lady couldn't walk fast, I signaled the vehicles to slow down as we crossed the road. When finally we got to the other side of the street, I released her hand and she looked up at me again. This time she smiled and said, "Salamat po." I was too stunned to say anything, not even "Ingat po kayo."
A jeepney driver and a grandmother made my day yesterday. They made me forget the wrongs done to me recently. They gave me the answer to my questions: What do you feel knowing that God also loves those who hurt you? What do you feel knowing that God forgives even those you cannot?
Meeting those two blessed individuals made me realize that I have a good life, not because I am good, but because God is. That I am blessed not because I believe, but because God is merciful. That God allows me to see real beauty in human beings not because I asked him to, but because He wants to show me He does exist, even if sometimes I doubt it.
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