Attitude and gratitude

“Hearts are like doors. To open are very little keys, and don’t forget they are: ‘I thank you, sir’ and ‘if you please…’”    

This was a very short poem which I learned from grade school, and one does not have to exert any effort just to utter these very short phrases. But I wonder if this poem is still being taught these days in the present educational system, because it seems that there so many youngsters today who cannot say “thank you” or “if you please.”

 I was with two other senior citizens taking a passenger jeepney bound for Danao City months ago. We were the only passengers left at the back seats while the other passenger, a younger one, was seated beside the driver in front. The conductor was to give the change of that younger passenger beside the driver. Instead of giving the change himself, he asked us, the aging passengers, to hand it to the younger passenger. I was ignoring him at first since I was the one who was near him, but when he was already raising his voice as if I was his employee, I became irritated and told him that it was his duty to hand the change himself, not us, aging passengers. Just because we were senior citizens did not mean that he could pass on his duty to us. I was not,  as a matter of fact, using any privilege of a senior citizen in this country, like a discount on jeepney fare, because to me this is an insignificant amount. I was claiming respect from a conductor. It was not the duty of a passenger to move nearer to the driver’s sear, just to hand the change to a passenger who is beside the driver. I hope I made a point. Senior citizens still have all the rights to take a passenger jeep despite their age, even if they are suffering from some illness. Just like any ordinary citizen, the conductor should not ask any passenger to do something for him. Likewise, other passengers should also take into consideration that there are passengers who are suffering from an illness and who cannot tolerate cigarette smoking, so there should not be any smoking inside a public utility vehicle. The conductor, or the driver, has to be clean and should not smell bad, and they should not utter bad words. Sad to say, some passengers are like most drivers and conductors.

 “I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to earth I knew not where, for so swiftly it flew out of sight, I could not follow its flight. I breathed a song into the air, it fell to earth I knew not where, for who has sight so keen and strong, could not follow the flight of a song? Long long afterwards in an oak, I found the arrow still unbroken, and the song from the beginning to the    end, I found it again in a heart of a friend.”

 This is another poem which I also learned from grade school. Just like the first poem, it teaches character, conduct and attitude. It tells of manners we ought to nurture. The arrow    represents the bad words that your big mouth had spoken to someone which can never be erased, while the song represents are the beautiful and polite words you may have said, the favors you may have done to someone. You must have forgotten all the good deeds, but someday, you will reap the fruits of your goodness.   

 I still remember that during my early years of writing, there was this photo which accompanied the article that I wrote. In the picture, there was this local actor who was not   mentioned in the caption. I just took that for granted until, months later, the actor–who was tipsy–confronted me, saying he had been insulted of that photo where his name was not mentioned. I had reconciled with him before he died - the late Porcing Torevillas, a very popular actor in the 70s. I also remember another time, a very popular recording and concert    artist used to be very good    to    me, until one time, I asked him    why entertainers had become    born again Christians. He   frankly told me it was not   any of my business as he himself, without my knowledge, had become a born  again Christian. Now I am very careful in taking up delicate matters like this, especially since even my good    friend Dulce, Gary Valenciano, and a relative, Ace Espinosa,   have all become born again    Christians.

 Speaking of Dulce and Ace Espinosa, just like former Looc Barangay Captain, now Mandaue City Councilor Editha Flores Cabahug, they firmly believe that their talents are gifts from God, so they would never stop thanking God for their blessings. They also claim that there are other people who are also God’s instruments who helped them on their way to success. For these reasons, because they can not give material things to God, they are giving material things to those who were God’s instruments in helping them. Inday Francisca Pacana vda. de Espinosa, mother of Ace, who is now based in Chicago, says that even now that her son is not as popular before, she believes that she is still indebted to people who had helped Ace. So she keeps on sending gifts to these people.

 To me, everytime I charge the battery of my cellphone, I thank God that my charger is still functioning. I have so many things to thank the Lord for, as a matter of fact. Are you thankful of the little cash that you have? I am, that is why, out of gratitude, I never crumple my bills be it the smallest denomination or the biggest, for how can you buy something if you don’t have any money? One time, I was with a family taking a passenger jeepney (again) when the father gave his daughter P100 for their fare. The mother stopped her, because it was too early to pay for the fare, so the daughter was playing with that money, and while doing so, she crumpled the money until she forgot that what she was holding was money. She threw it to the garbage can which was filled with dirty thrash!

As an environmentalist, I also thank God of nature’s bounty. I thank God for rivers, the trees and everything that God created. I also thank God for my relatives and very dear friends.