Laughing on the Sidelines
I love to observe though I’m not the best observer there is, and sometimes I’m fortunate enough to encounter scenes that made me laugh inside and sticked with me for a long, long time.
On my way home from the bank last, last week, I got into this jeep. A few minutes later, a woman got into it as well and went near the driver, she asked the driver, “Dadaan po ba kayo sa Kalayaan?” (Are you going to pass Kalayaan?) and the driver said, “Ah, oo, malapit yun sa Riverside eh” (Yes, it’s near Riverside).
I thought that’s the end of the small talk when the driver tried to clear things up, “Doon ka ba bababa?” (Are you going to get off there?) I just can’t resist to smile, OMG, I thought to myself, “Oh no, I just wanna know, are you going to pass Litex too? How about Dahlia? Yes? Ok then, my survey is complete, thanks!” LOL.
I’m guilty of asking the obvious sometimes too like when I was talking to this client/friend of mine, he told me to create articles for this mortgage broker client of his, I asked “Ok, the articles will be about mortgage, right?” (WTH was that, eh??) But the difference is I recognized my blunder and laughed it off hehe that was so stupid — or probably it’s because I’m comfortable with the one I was talking to?
Now, before we get into the next story, let me tell you something about the Commonwealth Avenue. If you think that road kill is not possible these days then you obviously haven’t been to Commonwealth Avenue yet, it is infamous for having a big number of casualties because the drivers passing through it would just die if they slow down even for a little while.
So, last, last week, on my way to the mall, I saw a group of elementary kids trying to cross Commonwealth Avenue, they do have a couple of adults with them but there is this kid who braved the street and successfully crossed it amidst a number of cars speeding the highway. I wouldn’t be able to laugh at it until I saw the kid jumping up and down and waving his hands as if it was one of best things that has ever happened in his entire life. I can see his smiling face from the FX I’m in, I chuckled and thought how daring and reckless of him. LOL what a victory, eh?
Then I remembered that during my high school days a classmate of mine was in &;ldquo;awe” of me because I never stopped (and was just calmly) crossing the Commonwealth Avenue, I just laughed it off saying it was no big deal (it really wasn’t, besides, I play patintero with cars most of the time) most probably because I’m so used to it. I was so reckless then, all I was thinking then was that I want to go home ASAP and no tin cans (that’s what I used to refer to cars before LOL) can stop me, because they wouldn’t dare kill me because they would have to pay up. Of course, I conveniently forgot that they could run away, pfft.
These days, though, whenever I cross the street I think «Darn, can’t you let me pass for a second?? Really it wouldn’t kill you.» or «Don’t you dare kill me, I’ll haunt you to death» lol. The last expression was brought on by the fact that I was almost hit by a taxi and a bus at the same month, not to mention that I was hit by a guy in bicycle when I was a kid while playing with my cousins and friends where I passed out upon seeing blood on my hands.
Suffice to say, I’m not as brave as before anymore because I don’t want to die just yet. I guess it comes with age, the more you experience life, the more you want to hold on to it, yes? The more I see these kinds of silly things, the more I realize how fun it is to be alive and I don’t want to let it go. Observing is nice, being able to look at people differently and smiling at myself because I noticed something I find funny about them is a great feeling, and I want to keep experiencing it more.
God knows how much we need to find something to laugh about these days. Found anything amusing today?
