I graduated from my French 10 class without knowing a single soul from the class. It’s really not of my nature to make the first move to be friends with classmates the way politicians do with people come election time. Here’s the truth - I’m really not that friendly unless I know Armageddon is coming, there’s no water supply, or when I miss something very important like missing last week’s class.
While still waiting for our teacher, I kind um impolitely asked a classmate (who I will know latter as Jed) if we had an assignment.
He replied “No. But you missed a lot.” (He would have been really that convincing if he started with halaka!)
“Why? D’ya already start playing?”
“No. But we started note reading.”
No sweat, I could very well remember mi-la-re-so open strings. I didn’t even bother to say thank you, I just went to the corner and slumped on the floor (the way I do when I’m kinda tired waiting for a train in LRT-2, dyahe when you do that in MRT and LRT).
Next minute, he sat opposite me and asked “Is glass solid or liquid?”
“It’s pretty solid… solid?”
He gloated, his eyes twinkling gatcha! “It’s liquid.” Fine. But I think he’s right… partially. In terms of molecular dynamics and thermodynamics, it’s possible to justify diverging views that glass is a highly viscous liquid, an amorphous solid, or simply another state of matter which is neither liquid nor solid.
“By the way, where were you the last time?” he asked.
“I went to the beach.” He gave me this time that Why-are-you-partying-like-there’s-no-more-tomorrow-on-the-eve-of-your-final-exam look. I almost retorted “I only went swimming and had a very wholesome fun. Watched the dawn. I even missed the sunset. I didn’t even make friends.” Here’s that I’m-not-really-so-friendly story again.
Suddenly he said, “I was hospitalized months ago because I got dehydrated.”
That was a statement but I could tell he was fishing for a reply so I said, “Maybe you’re not drinking eight glasses of water everyday.”
“My body only needs four to six.” It was so tempting to say “Fine (with a gesture of delivering it calmly and stoically). I really don’t care at all.” He proceeded “My dad is the boss of his own company while my mom is the head in one of the departments of NAPOCOR.” Sounds very electric to me. I think they have a house and a lawn full of Christmas lights. He continued “All in all, we have nine cars but we are only using like six.”
I was salivating, “Lucky you, you’re rich.” I could tell this is a well-pampered, pompous and spoiled brat I’m talking to. Not to mention that he’s Inglesero.
Out of the blue, he started talking about PS2 and dragons. I should have seen it coming. He talked nonstop about the content, quantity and heaven forsake of anything that has something to do with computer games. I couldn’t even recall the games he cited, nothing fancy though like Final Fantasy. It very felt like the time when Cheng asked me which team won in the latest World Cup game and all she ever got from me was a smile.. a smile of ignorance. There’s no way of stopping Jed's mouth now. It’s on fire! And I think it’s too rude to say something like “Hey hey hey don’t overindulge yourself, we’re not close yet.”
I interrupted “So you download games?”
“In PS2?” He suddenly gave me that duh-where-the-hell-are-you-from look. I should have known better. He’s talking about PS2 and not Ragnarok (and even if he started bitching about Ragnarok I would still scratch my head). Part of the sixth generation era, PS2 has become the fastest selling gaming console in history, outselling Xbox and GameCube. Honestly, I don’t even know the remaining generations, all I know was that I used to play Super Mario a long long time ago.
While still waiting for our teacher, I kind um impolitely asked a classmate (who I will know latter as Jed) if we had an assignment.
He replied “No. But you missed a lot.” (He would have been really that convincing if he started with halaka!)
“Why? D’ya already start playing?”
“No. But we started note reading.”
No sweat, I could very well remember mi-la-re-so open strings. I didn’t even bother to say thank you, I just went to the corner and slumped on the floor (the way I do when I’m kinda tired waiting for a train in LRT-2, dyahe when you do that in MRT and LRT).
Next minute, he sat opposite me and asked “Is glass solid or liquid?”
“It’s pretty solid… solid?”
He gloated, his eyes twinkling gatcha! “It’s liquid.” Fine. But I think he’s right… partially. In terms of molecular dynamics and thermodynamics, it’s possible to justify diverging views that glass is a highly viscous liquid, an amorphous solid, or simply another state of matter which is neither liquid nor solid.
“By the way, where were you the last time?” he asked.
“I went to the beach.” He gave me this time that Why-are-you-partying-like-there’s-no-more-tomorrow-on-the-eve-of-your-final-exam look. I almost retorted “I only went swimming and had a very wholesome fun. Watched the dawn. I even missed the sunset. I didn’t even make friends.” Here’s that I’m-not-really-so-friendly story again.
Suddenly he said, “I was hospitalized months ago because I got dehydrated.”
That was a statement but I could tell he was fishing for a reply so I said, “Maybe you’re not drinking eight glasses of water everyday.”
“My body only needs four to six.” It was so tempting to say “Fine (with a gesture of delivering it calmly and stoically). I really don’t care at all.” He proceeded “My dad is the boss of his own company while my mom is the head in one of the departments of NAPOCOR.” Sounds very electric to me. I think they have a house and a lawn full of Christmas lights. He continued “All in all, we have nine cars but we are only using like six.”
I was salivating, “Lucky you, you’re rich.” I could tell this is a well-pampered, pompous and spoiled brat I’m talking to. Not to mention that he’s Inglesero.
Out of the blue, he started talking about PS2 and dragons. I should have seen it coming. He talked nonstop about the content, quantity and heaven forsake of anything that has something to do with computer games. I couldn’t even recall the games he cited, nothing fancy though like Final Fantasy. It very felt like the time when Cheng asked me which team won in the latest World Cup game and all she ever got from me was a smile.. a smile of ignorance. There’s no way of stopping Jed's mouth now. It’s on fire! And I think it’s too rude to say something like “Hey hey hey don’t overindulge yourself, we’re not close yet.”
I interrupted “So you download games?”
“In PS2?” He suddenly gave me that duh-where-the-hell-are-you-from look. I should have known better. He’s talking about PS2 and not Ragnarok (and even if he started bitching about Ragnarok I would still scratch my head). Part of the sixth generation era, PS2 has become the fastest selling gaming console in history, outselling Xbox and GameCube. Honestly, I don’t even know the remaining generations, all I know was that I used to play Super Mario a long long time ago.
“Computer games, they’re really that addictive ha?” I would have added (if his father wasn’t an earshot away) “Addiction to computer games will ruin your life. Get a grip and get some life. Cross a river (but not Pasig please!) or climb a mango tree. Or better take the road to Kalimugtong, a godforsaken place where children could live by just eating sayote day and night be it ginisang sayote, nilagang sayote, adobong sayote or sayote al dente.”
Oh addiction - an excessive attachment to something, someone that at times could be very unhealthy. They say it is a fundamental problem. A deep core problem. A universal problem. All of us are taken up in addictive behavior. There’s plenty of category to choose from: drug-addict, rugby-addict, yosi-addict, TV-addict, Survivor-addict, Grey’s-Anatomy-addict, chocolate-addict, coffee-addict, sleep-addict, sex-addict, conscious-addict, gym-addict, dog-addict or dog-lover whatever they’re all the same, the list seems endless; just hyphenate addict with any noun that you could ever think of. If you try to trace its roots, you literally get tied up with the origins of the universe and the evolution of human consciousness. Sounds very Big Bang huh. Yup, the little itch started there. But addiction has evolved to being the twin of bad habit nowadays. Not salubrious. If only you could want not to want things? Impossible! Even if you want nothing, that’s still a want. Addiction is incurable. And why would you want be cured if you could almost taste the pleasure you get from it. Moderation is not an issue here. It’s synonymous with being mediocre and nobody wants to be boring and ordinary, which somehow, led me to a conclusion that nobody wants to die a virgin. But, (there’s always a but to everything) we could always turn the table around. If only people were addicted to having an afternoon nap after drinking milk and eating cookies, d’ya think we would still be dreaming of world peace?
I was snapped back to reality, this time Jed’s talking about a new online game, non-stop again. He was like spewing kumonoy na and I’m already drowning. And since no Superman is going to save me and my silence and feigned interest is not going to shut him up anytime soon, I decided to take charge, “Get your violin and let’s play.”
“But I don’t know how to play yet,” he squirmed.
“I’ll teach you.”
10 minutes latter, I could hear he’s kind of “getting there” in playing the first stanza of Twinkle Twinkle. And he was not lying when he said he doesn’t know how to play. You could easily distinguish a beginner from a cave man the way he holds the bow (like if your thumb doesn’t connect with your middle finger in an almost perfect circle with your other fingers positioned in a flirty way, you’re very Neanderthal). He was beaming. That cocky 10-year-old Atenista. But give credit to the kid. He’s got his own Maalaala moments. Surely, there are a lot of perks for being an only child, still sometimes he said couldn’t help but cry over his two younger brothers who already departed Earth in such a hurry. On that day, guess I made my first friend in the class, and realized that sometimes, diversion is a key to veer away from addiction. I’m going to convince that kid to choose UP for college. We’re still addicts, nonetheless.
P.S.
A week later, he excitingly told me that he showed off his violin for his show-and-tell class. And he was very adamant that someday, he would pursue law in Ateneo and not UP. He said “I want to be a civil lawyer.” Replied I, “Ateneo breeds corporate lawyers.” He wouldn’t sway. I added “And in UP, you’ll learn how to makibaka.” His reaction: nada. And right after our class (we were still on theoretical part), we resumed our “Twinkle Twinkle” lesson. That beautiful piece of Mozart’s which I mastered for a week, he only learned in an hour. Under my tutelage. But the greatest hallelujah of all, not a word was uttered about PS2. I think he’s getting addicted to something new.
Oh addiction - an excessive attachment to something, someone that at times could be very unhealthy. They say it is a fundamental problem. A deep core problem. A universal problem. All of us are taken up in addictive behavior. There’s plenty of category to choose from: drug-addict, rugby-addict, yosi-addict, TV-addict, Survivor-addict, Grey’s-Anatomy-addict, chocolate-addict, coffee-addict, sleep-addict, sex-addict, conscious-addict, gym-addict, dog-addict or dog-lover whatever they’re all the same, the list seems endless; just hyphenate addict with any noun that you could ever think of. If you try to trace its roots, you literally get tied up with the origins of the universe and the evolution of human consciousness. Sounds very Big Bang huh. Yup, the little itch started there. But addiction has evolved to being the twin of bad habit nowadays. Not salubrious. If only you could want not to want things? Impossible! Even if you want nothing, that’s still a want. Addiction is incurable. And why would you want be cured if you could almost taste the pleasure you get from it. Moderation is not an issue here. It’s synonymous with being mediocre and nobody wants to be boring and ordinary, which somehow, led me to a conclusion that nobody wants to die a virgin. But, (there’s always a but to everything) we could always turn the table around. If only people were addicted to having an afternoon nap after drinking milk and eating cookies, d’ya think we would still be dreaming of world peace?
I was snapped back to reality, this time Jed’s talking about a new online game, non-stop again. He was like spewing kumonoy na and I’m already drowning. And since no Superman is going to save me and my silence and feigned interest is not going to shut him up anytime soon, I decided to take charge, “Get your violin and let’s play.”
“But I don’t know how to play yet,” he squirmed.
“I’ll teach you.”
10 minutes latter, I could hear he’s kind of “getting there” in playing the first stanza of Twinkle Twinkle. And he was not lying when he said he doesn’t know how to play. You could easily distinguish a beginner from a cave man the way he holds the bow (like if your thumb doesn’t connect with your middle finger in an almost perfect circle with your other fingers positioned in a flirty way, you’re very Neanderthal). He was beaming. That cocky 10-year-old Atenista. But give credit to the kid. He’s got his own Maalaala moments. Surely, there are a lot of perks for being an only child, still sometimes he said couldn’t help but cry over his two younger brothers who already departed Earth in such a hurry. On that day, guess I made my first friend in the class, and realized that sometimes, diversion is a key to veer away from addiction. I’m going to convince that kid to choose UP for college. We’re still addicts, nonetheless.
P.S.
A week later, he excitingly told me that he showed off his violin for his show-and-tell class. And he was very adamant that someday, he would pursue law in Ateneo and not UP. He said “I want to be a civil lawyer.” Replied I, “Ateneo breeds corporate lawyers.” He wouldn’t sway. I added “And in UP, you’ll learn how to makibaka.” His reaction: nada. And right after our class (we were still on theoretical part), we resumed our “Twinkle Twinkle” lesson. That beautiful piece of Mozart’s which I mastered for a week, he only learned in an hour. Under my tutelage. But the greatest hallelujah of all, not a word was uttered about PS2. I think he’s getting addicted to something new.
.jpg)
.jpg)
