The School of Life and My Shoes

I arrived early for my job interview in Makati City and I still got two hours to kill before my scheduled time. Bad thing is I forgot to bring a book and the nearby mall is still closed so I think of something to do while waiting. I decided to take a short walk to buy a newspaper. 

Just outside the building, an old shoeshine man sitting on the sidewalk beside a newspaper stand caught my attention. He is carefully arranging his shoeshine paraphernalia like those were his prized possessions. He seemed nice and my shoes badly need a little makeover so I approached him to get my shoes cleaned. I noticed the man’s shoes were full of dusts. How ironic, I ponder how a shoeshine man never cleaned his shoes, yet I didn’t bother asking. He silently cleaned my shoes efficiently and with precision. I just sit there, just observing him, enjoying the elated feeling of being served and of being pampered and respected. I paid him, asked for my ten-peso change and stand up without even asking his name. I didn’t even say thank you. It’s his job anyway. 

The lady and the old shoeshine man

I still got plenty of time so I go to the magazine stand to buy a newspaper. I heard the shoeshine man asking a fortysomething corporate looking lady who were browsing some magazines to shine her shoes. The lady just smiled and declined. But the shoeshine man was persistent, almost pleading.

The smiling lady said something to the shoeshine man, and to my surprise, the shoeshine man stand up and sit down on his customers’ chair while the lady took his place.

I realized that the lady turned the table on this old man and offered to shine his dusty shoes – and pay him 500 pesos to do it. They both smiled and laughed while the man seemed to be excitedly telling his life’s story, as the lady sat on the ground at his feet and cleaned his dusty shoes. Some passersby looked at them bewildered. The newspaper vendor and some of his customers smiled too.

But I felt different. A wave of emotion hit me and for a moment I held back. I quickly returned to the building to read my newspaper but I can’t focus. The old man’s face, smiling as if nobody ever shined his shoes before, keeps flashing on my mind. Why did I deny that shoeshine man’s moment of joy?

I kept staring at my shining shoes – assailed by conflicting emotions, there was neither shame nor remorse.

"Change your heart!" said my shoes

To give importance, to treat others as an equal, to appreciate simple things, even if only for a moment which is very easy to give, was that lady’s gift that I will long remember every time I will wear my shoes.

It will always remind me that if we change our heart, then look at the world, the world would be a happy place to live.

By the way, I didn’t passed the job interview, but I learned an important life's lesson.  

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Photo Credit: Monica Jackson - Is That A Shoe?

I Leave All My Worries at Tingloy Island

Day 1 :  Feb. 6, 2010

Even if I had a good seven hours sleep, I still got irritated because my clogged nose wake me up very early today. Yesterday, that mindless tricycle driver keeps on closely tailing another tricycle not minding the thick diesel smoke and dust it is belching directly at me, activating my nasal allergy again – this allergy is my punishment since childhood, activated by a certain kind of smoke and dust. 

Therefore, I wake up today, my throat as rough as sandpaper, head spinning and eyes red and watery. But hell no, this damn sinusitis can’t ruin my weekend, so I force myself up, grab my backpack and take few stuff for a two days trip to Tingloy Island in Batangas City.

         
We meet at the Araneta Center – Cubao around 9:00 am, take a three hours bus ride going to the City of Batangas and another half hour for the motor banca ride going to Tingloy Island – giving me a bit of the Boracay trip nostalgia. It’s a refreshing country side trip, like escaping the prison-like life in the damned City of Metro Manila.

Tingloy Island - The Island Of Dreams

After an hour of riding the motorized banca, the jovial high-tide waves smoothly rocking us as if sensing our enthusiasm, the picturesque Island of Tingloy serenely welcomes us. With its soft curves and slightly steep mountains, it is like a radish, romantically half-submerged in blue water.   

Tingloy is a municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. I learned that about 20 percent of the 18, 000+ residents are seafarers. Because Tingloy is a small island, the place is surrounded with beaches and dive points and known for its white sand and beautiful sunset at the beach's tip of the coast.

We had our sumptuous lunch at the Garcia’s residence, our island host, before we go to our first destination, the Olypic Point Island Resort, which is another ten-minute banca ride on the other side of the island. 

My runny nose didn’t stopped me from enjoying the water and we stayed at the resort until eight in the evening. It was a fun evening with friends, with lots of beers, grilled tilapia and pancit while talking about relationships, work realities, seafaring (because most of our buddies are seafarers), and of course our favorite topic – sex.

On our way back to the Garcia’s, while on the banca, I caught a glimpse of the bioluminescence planktons giving specks of silver light like small fireflies as the dark water was disturbed by our passing banca. It caught my interest because I just finished reading Dan Brown’s “Deception Point” where the conspiracy and government fraud, which is the novel’s main theme, was discovered because of those bioluminescence flagellates.

We continued our drinking session at the Garcia’s terrace overlooking the bay with more foods, more beers, videoke, and more random talks, until all of us finally dozed off.

Day 2: February 7, 2010

I am awake but I still keep my eyes closed for a few minutes, the morning sunrays intruding the room from the open window, temporarily blinds me. I thought I am in my room in Mindoro but when my eyes finally adjusted, I remembered that I’m at the Garcia’s. Effects of beer I guess. Well, I love houses with big open windows, it reminds me of my grandparents’ old Spanish house where natural light and air can enter the rooms giving you a light feeling and carefree ambience. You can seldom find houses with wide windows in the city nowadays – having it is like luxury and a threat. 

After breakfast, we decided to visit the other side of the island, the side where you can see my beloved home island of Mindoro. We trekked for about an hour, passed by steep mountain paths and dried rice fields until we reached the scenic beach. We immediately plunge ourselves in the crystal-clear water, eager and excited like children on the first heavy rain of May. We enjoyed the beach for about an hour before heading back to the town, trying a longer and steeper route back under a burning afternoon sun. We came back at the house exhausted and half-baked but enjoying the memories of that new experience.

The Heartwarming Tingloy Hospitality

The other thing we will remember, aside from the island’s beauty, is the hospitality of the Tingloyans, especially Jeoff’s parents and relatives. We are welcomed not like a first time strangers but like a long lost visiting relatives. We are given the best foods, best rooms in the house, warm smiles and excited reception – making this short trip truly memorable.

Heartwarming classic Filipino hospitality is still very much evident in Tingloy. After we received all the best in the house, we were given two boxes of bibingka (rice cakes) as pabaon (parting gifts) 

While writing this blogpost, I am enjoying that rice bibingka while sipping hot coffee, occasionally staring at the shells and stones I brought with me as island souvenir.

And yes, I feel like the island washed away all my worries about everything. 

HACUNA MATATA! 

MORE PICTURES CLICK HERE

Bastardiness: Of Being Bastard and Tardy

Today is the third day of my 5-day work suspension – yes, you read it right, I’m suspended for five days – without pay – due  to tardiness.

   

We’ll I guess every organization have their own policy on tardiness, and I violated ours. It’s a policy and I’m aware of it. I know whether intentional or by misfortune, being late for work is, in itself, a visible sign of disrespect for the organization you are working. So I accepted all the consequences, even though they didn’t serve my first and second warning memo which is also part of the policy. 

The absence of those warning memos makes me think that the company is considering those extra working hours I’m spending without filing for overtime pay – silly me,  I’m goddamn wrong.    

According to an ABC News report in March 2007, there are 4 types of chronic tardiness among employees:

1) Rationalizer type: Blames outside factors

2) Absent-minded Professor type: forgetful or disorganized

3) Deadline or Producer Type: Adrenaline addicted junkie. Gets a psychological high on having a jammed schedule

4) Rebel type: Defies authority and gets a high in keeping people waiting. Feel so important that feel people are willing to wait.

But let me add another one:

5) Bastardy Type:  Intentionally being late due to lack of motivation. 

Well, I am being “bastardy” lately. I was acting like Nobita lately,  looking for a “Doraemon” to produce a futuristic gadget out of his pouch to help me fix my motivation problem.  But of course, I’m damn wrong. Only Me can motivate myself – but hey, when was the last time I heard “Nice work, keep it up!” I think it was decades ago. 

I’m not into HR business but I think to make sure these controls actually work, they must be communicated to employees. I mean, we must know what our attendance standards are and how it will affect our advancement, performance ratings, salary increase or promotion (if there’s such a thing.) 

Also, many times when my co-employee calls in sick, they are not really ill, they are just taking a "personal day" off, we all know it, and even managers do it. My suggestion is why not consider the concept of "personal days" -- give us 2-4 "personal days" after we’ve been on the company for 5 years -- we can use the time for personal business, family, whatever. I think it doesn’t cost much in return for loyalty - (aside from that symbolic wristwatch as a reward for a ten-year service)

Anyway, there are of course the good sides of my five days suspension - more good than harm, I guess. I'm already enrolled in a gym, which is in my To-Do list for about two years now. I also catch-up on my reading  and finished two  good books and attended other personal stuff. It’s a nice vacation actually.

I'm not saying bastardiness is good, but if you can't help it... go for it. Being  always nice and good is boring sometimes.  

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Image Credit: Slavery of Time by De michael borgulat