Monday, September 29, 2008

Unusually Familiar and Disturbing

ANTO COMETA

Last Saturday was a deviation from my usual after-class routine. Lanie was not feeling well so she decided to go home instead of staying and doing what we had been doing for the past couple of months, our Havana Fun – singing at a KTV establishment along Visayas Avenue and drinking while injecting some labor, society-related and personal stuff (usually gossips) as part of the conversation while Jef is sleeping. I was banking on luck that Lanie would change her mind. I asked her for one last time if she could. Unfortunately, she said she really can’t so we decided not to have our Havana Fun that night and just have our dinner.

After we had our dinner at Grill Queen along Maginhawa St. in Teachers’ Village people decided to split and have their own individual fun particularly the council’s chairperson (Mcrhon joke lang). Jab was oddly happy that night – no wonder Mcrhon uttered nadiligan ka yata kagabi kaya masaya ka noh? Jab was asking where to get a ride going home since she’s not familiar with the general area, although it’s quite weird since she’s been residing near the area for several years. Mcrhon and Jab decided to take the Philcoa route.

A week before that was quite taxing for me. The symposium I organized together with Atty Bitonio (former Usec of DOLE and Chair of NLRC) which took months was finally carried out. I’m thankful to the rest of the council for helping me on that activity although I have my share of gripe before and after its implementation because of several concerns which were not properly addressed. Nonetheless, I’m grateful that it has already ended (for those who would want to grab copies of the materials used by the speakers visit the UP SOLAIR Student Council site – www.upsolairsc.wordpress.com). I was hoping that I could "de-stress” that night but to no avail.

We went to the bus station in Cubao to drop Lanie. After we dropped her off at the terminal we went to Treehouse to meet Eumel. We have to meet him since we already talked about it that afternoon and that he said that he’ll be joining us after his class but unfortunately things didn’t go as it was suppose to be. He was not informed when people decided not to have our Saturday session, I totally forgot about it, so to be well-mannered enough I decided to meet him even if it’s just the three of us. I had my favorite “detoxi-flying drink” of course, minimal amount such as a glass serves as detox (quite healthy), more than that makes me high (very happy). Middle of the conversation, Eumel popped in a topic about break up. Of all topics that one could think of he really did inject something that I don’t like to hear, well, I guess just for that night. Actually it’s not about the break up of that couple, but he has already shared one last week. The first one he shared was so depressing and the primary reason I don’t want to hear it was because I want to remove the stress that I have accumulated over the week and a post-celebration of the symposium and not to distress myself just by listening.

Those stories he shared were quite familiar, but the unusual thing was he was so affected about those break ups to the extent that if ever he’ll see the person who wronged the aggrieved party he’ll slap and torture that individual. A considerable level of sympathy (or empathy which ever is the case) is understandable but this one is beyond the mark. At that point I was quite alarmed and troubled, not with the break up stories but with Eumel. After finishing our “healthy and wholesome” drinks we parted ways. It was a night for me… a disturbed night.

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