It was my first day at work today (err, make that yesterday because my shift's from 3PM till midnight). The morning was great - prepared breakfast and food for the kids to bring to school, brought them to the school gate, got home just in time for a good five-hour sleep before I had to wake up and prepare for work. I was able to get to work with time to spare. I left home and the kids to our babysitter. The rest of the day had been fun and I was generally happy. The sad part came when it was time to go home.
There was hardly any ride, if there was any at all, going to where I reside at midnight. I was reviewing options for where I could possibly get a ride home until finally my fellow trainee and I decided to share a cab and alight at Trinoma. When we got there we waited again for about 15 minutes for another ride that never came, so we decided to walk and see what was available. He resided in Project 6, which wasn't a problem for there was always a jeepney passing by. I had to settle for an FX that brought me to Congressional Avenue, which was still a good half-kilometer or so from my place. I walked along Mindanao Avenue from there to Road 20 and didn't find any problems as the area was well-lit and there were enough vehicles passing by, enough people walking, enough vendors about... likely on their way home, too. It was when I reached the main road leading to where I lived that I truly began regretting walking.
A few meters from the highway was a tricycle terminal which I snubbed because I rarely ride them anyhow. I regretted that decision a few minutes later as I found myself being followed and cat-called by this drunken man. "Miss... Miss... can we get acquainted?" ("Miss... Miss... pwedeng makipagkilala?") I hastened my steps and listened. He was rather noisy and clumsy in his steps as he was literally staggering along the sidewalk. What surprised me was that, as I brisk-walked to put some good distance between us, he was able to catch up with me that he was almost near enough to grab me. Thank GOD I was still able to keep my composure and make sure he didn't reach me.
The whole length that I had to walk was spent brisk walking and fumbling through my bag for something to arm myself with. I even stopped by an cafeteria, which was still bustling with patrons, to buy something - anything that I might be able to use to defend myself in case I needed to. I stayed there for a while, peering out every so often to make sure that the drunken bastard who was following and cat-calling me earlier was gone. I was earnest about getting home. I bought and lit a cigarette, not with any intention of smoking it, but rather to poke an attacker in the face with it if one crosses my way. I got my house keys out and made knuckle spikes out of them. I bundled up my hair and tucked them into my shirt. Finally, I wrapped my bag around me so that I had my arms and legs free for movement in case I needed to run or defend myself.
I started walking towards home again and, sure enough, found the same drunken man staggering along the same street where I turned. He had bought a cigarette from a store that was still open. I walked slower, making sure he was right in front of me - right where I could see him and where he might go although he was walking really slowly, and going from one side of the street to the other. At some point, he stopped and took a piss at one of the parked vehicles. I walked past him, without running so as not to attract undue attention from him, and went straight home. I kept my ears peeled as he was still rather noisy as he staggered along the street. He apparently recognized me and began calling out to me again, with rather filthy remarks like, "you're pretty, miss... you make me feel horny..." ("ganda mo, miss... nalilibugan ako sayo...") and so on.
I kept a steady pace as I brisk-walked, managing to put a good distance between us. Finally, I reached our garage gate, and as I fumbled to unlock it, I could hear the man whistling and singing some tune as he continued along the same street. I literally threw in my folder and made so much noise as I opened, closed and re-locked the gate! I walked to my front door and kept to the shadows, making sure he couldn't see where I was in case he passed by outside the gate. Thankfully, he didn't.
As I type this, my heart is still racing. I'm not ready to sleep yet but I know I will be once I get this on my blog somehow. I thank God for keeping me safe and sane during that ordeal. I hope anyone who reads this may find something useful in case they find themselves in a similar situation. Perhaps they can share some useful advice as well.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Reading Between the Lines... The Anatomy of the Ideal Man or Woman (Part 1.5 - the midway stop))
I must admit... this has been one harrowing survey. My friend and I poured over the responses we got for several weeks, and we still could not decide which responses carried the most weight, which ones made more sense, and which ones were serious and inclusive enough to make it to the top ten. Yes, friends, from the hundreds of responses we received, we decided to publish only the top ten. And we still aren't even close to reading half of the responses we got. (huhuhuhuhuhu...)
While we are continuing to read and discuss which responses are in, and which ones are out, I'd like to share some responses that tickled my mind a lot. I'm calling this portion "the midway stop" - something similar to the stops people make during long land trips. And so, in no particular order...
1. "My ideal man is simply non-existent. I trust the Lord will send whoever is best for me, just like He did for my mom and my sisters." - from Candy, a 28-year old account executive. My psychologist friend, Gabe, said he found this answer to be "safe," and believes many others will do, too. He said this is typical of someone who simply does not want to get disappointed if she does not get exactly what she wants, or teased if she begins dating someone who is the opposite of the ideal she describes. As for me, I find this "safe" but nonetheless faithful. Yes, of course, I agree with Gabe to some degree but when it all comes down to it we never do find our "ideal"partner - we find someone to love for who that person is, regardless of what we don't like about them, and regardless of how that person loves us back.
2. "My ideal woman is humorous, smart, athletic, adventurous, and an Angel Locsin look-alike." - from Rowell, an 18-year old college student. Gabe took this a step further by asking how long Rowell has had this vision of his ideal girl, and if he could show photos of his previous and present girlfriends. We were astonished to find that, true enough, both girls were indeed Angel Locsin look-alikes! I asked why he broke up with the first girl, and Rowell said, "She creeped me out! She was obsessing with all these Korean boy bands and kept insisting I style my hair the way they do.She also kept nagging me into dressing like they do and shaving my eyebrows to look more like them!" Hmpf... looks like she was trying to style him into her own ideal guy.
3. "My ideal man is responsible, intelligent, hardworking, business-minded, and caring. No, he doesn't have to be good-looking. At ayoko ng mama's boy!" - from Lalaine, a 35-year old single-mom and entrepreneur. Lalaine said her "ideal guy" has evolved through the years because experience has taught her a lot. Her ex-husband (she has been divorced for five years) was good-looking indeed (he looks a lot like Mark Gil), and was pretty intelligent considering he completed two bachelor degrees in Ateneo before moving to the US with Lalaine to get married and start a family. Lalaine said everything was simply "blissful" - she had the best wedding she could dream of and it was the man of her dreams, too... until he decided not to work full-time and began spending more time at home "studying" what types of business to pursue (but never did). And then he began nagging Lalaine to act "more like his mom." Lalaine exclaimed, "it was frustrating that all you hear from him is 'my mom is like this and that' and 'my mom can do this and that' followed up with a 'why can't you be more like my mom?'" She also recalled how his mom would actually "engage herself" in their marital conflict, including herself in conversations and arguments without respect to the couple's privacy. "And he would let her... they would actually gang up on me whereas I was the one working my butt off to get them everything," Lalaine continued. Sigh... the guy filed for divorce five years into the marriage, as his mom recommended.
How about you? Would you care to describe your ideal man or woman and tell us about your experiences? :D
This is all for now... till the next stop, unless Gabe and I finally finish reading the rest of the responses to the survey. ;)
While we are continuing to read and discuss which responses are in, and which ones are out, I'd like to share some responses that tickled my mind a lot. I'm calling this portion "the midway stop" - something similar to the stops people make during long land trips. And so, in no particular order...
1. "My ideal man is simply non-existent. I trust the Lord will send whoever is best for me, just like He did for my mom and my sisters." - from Candy, a 28-year old account executive. My psychologist friend, Gabe, said he found this answer to be "safe," and believes many others will do, too. He said this is typical of someone who simply does not want to get disappointed if she does not get exactly what she wants, or teased if she begins dating someone who is the opposite of the ideal she describes. As for me, I find this "safe" but nonetheless faithful. Yes, of course, I agree with Gabe to some degree but when it all comes down to it we never do find our "ideal"partner - we find someone to love for who that person is, regardless of what we don't like about them, and regardless of how that person loves us back.
2. "My ideal woman is humorous, smart, athletic, adventurous, and an Angel Locsin look-alike." - from Rowell, an 18-year old college student. Gabe took this a step further by asking how long Rowell has had this vision of his ideal girl, and if he could show photos of his previous and present girlfriends. We were astonished to find that, true enough, both girls were indeed Angel Locsin look-alikes! I asked why he broke up with the first girl, and Rowell said, "She creeped me out! She was obsessing with all these Korean boy bands and kept insisting I style my hair the way they do.She also kept nagging me into dressing like they do and shaving my eyebrows to look more like them!" Hmpf... looks like she was trying to style him into her own ideal guy.
3. "My ideal man is responsible, intelligent, hardworking, business-minded, and caring. No, he doesn't have to be good-looking. At ayoko ng mama's boy!" - from Lalaine, a 35-year old single-mom and entrepreneur. Lalaine said her "ideal guy" has evolved through the years because experience has taught her a lot. Her ex-husband (she has been divorced for five years) was good-looking indeed (he looks a lot like Mark Gil), and was pretty intelligent considering he completed two bachelor degrees in Ateneo before moving to the US with Lalaine to get married and start a family. Lalaine said everything was simply "blissful" - she had the best wedding she could dream of and it was the man of her dreams, too... until he decided not to work full-time and began spending more time at home "studying" what types of business to pursue (but never did). And then he began nagging Lalaine to act "more like his mom." Lalaine exclaimed, "it was frustrating that all you hear from him is 'my mom is like this and that' and 'my mom can do this and that' followed up with a 'why can't you be more like my mom?'" She also recalled how his mom would actually "engage herself" in their marital conflict, including herself in conversations and arguments without respect to the couple's privacy. "And he would let her... they would actually gang up on me whereas I was the one working my butt off to get them everything," Lalaine continued. Sigh... the guy filed for divorce five years into the marriage, as his mom recommended.
How about you? Would you care to describe your ideal man or woman and tell us about your experiences? :D
This is all for now... till the next stop, unless Gabe and I finally finish reading the rest of the responses to the survey. ;)
Friday, July 02, 2010
Food for Thought
I strongly believe in a purpose that is backed by action, for words are meaningless without them. In life, Carlyle Thomas writes, "The purpose of man is in action not thought." In love, Deepak Chopra writes, "Love without action is meaningless and action without love is irrelevant."
We are all blessed by the same loving God with so much love and life. Sadly, we often take for granted the things that matter most. We stray farther and farther from the path towards the Light as we exhaust means to hoist ourselves up the pedestal. So many people act foolishly, hypocritically, self-righteously, and stumble those around them believing they alone know the right path. They claim to be so many things and yet they fall short on proving what they actually mean. They lay on the platter self-serving rules and principles, and yet they know not to hear other people.
Mohandas K. Gandhi once said, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Some people dare say they will not "stoop down to the level of other people" because they feel so mighty and proud. You may find them prancing around like kings and queens over the heads of those they care not about. What kind of principles are they upholding exactly?
We are all blessed by the same loving God with so much love and life. Sadly, we often take for granted the things that matter most. We stray farther and farther from the path towards the Light as we exhaust means to hoist ourselves up the pedestal. So many people act foolishly, hypocritically, self-righteously, and stumble those around them believing they alone know the right path. They claim to be so many things and yet they fall short on proving what they actually mean. They lay on the platter self-serving rules and principles, and yet they know not to hear other people.
Mohandas K. Gandhi once said, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Some people dare say they will not "stoop down to the level of other people" because they feel so mighty and proud. You may find them prancing around like kings and queens over the heads of those they care not about. What kind of principles are they upholding exactly?
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