Strange

Sometimes the course of our life just takes a sudden, unlikely turn. It can seem to us like punishment, or a stroke of bad luck. Yet, at times, a gloomy surprise can also turn out to be a real advantage.

I once had an unfortunate experience in the middle part of last year, when my lifetime savings were rendered inaccessible as my bank closed down. Fortunately, at the time I was awaiting some money; a post-dated cheque was getting due, my compensation from a non-government organization that contracted me to do their advocacy film. I was keeping the cheque for three months already; the client begged for some time to source the funds from donors.

When the day to cash the cheque finally came, I was all dressed up at 5 a.m., ready to go to the bank. That might seem rather too early, but not for me who had been awake the whole night in anticipation. Breakfast was the last thing I could think of; my anxious mind was preoccupied with taking note of the very slow movement of the clock.

My excruciating clockwatching was interrupted shortly by school kids who, on their way to school, passed by my place to sell me raffle tickets. They were raising funds for their school’s “clean and green” project. A five-peso ticket would entitle the holder a chance to win a cash prize.

There were coins in my pocket, more than enough for the jeepney fare to the bank. I picked three five-peso coins and gave it to the kids. They were jumping in joy as they left. And I was thinking: If only the kids came after I would have returned from the bank, I would probably have bought a whole stub of 50 or so tickets.   

I was already on the jeepney, on my way to cash the cheque, when my phone rang. It was the managing director of my NGO client. Their funds were still short to cover the amount of the cheque – if I could “wait for a little more time.”

Goodness, gracious! – Well, okay, I could wait, of course. I would. Did I have a choice?

As there was no more point in proceeding, I got off the jeepney and took another one back home. I must have looked really miserable that a neighbor asked what had happened. I felt tired, deeply tired, way beyond the physical sense.

Just as soon as I could take off my shoes, I settled myself in bed. Drowsily, I checked my wallet; the lone one-thousand-peso bill looked forlorn, although the five or seven pieces more of hundred-peso bills made the paltry bunch look plenty. I searched my pockets, as well. Sixty-three pesos worth of coins, and three raffle tickets.

It was scary to realize that I had less than two-thousand pesos to contend with for an uncertain period of time. It was not certain how much time it would take for my bank savings to be available for withdrawal, or how long would I have to wait until my NGO client had the funds for their cheque. My mind grew numb and I soon dozed off.

The banging of the door woke me up. I had inadvertently kept the door open since that morning and the strong night winds were blowing it to and fro. It was already close to midnight. Which meant I had been asleep for most of the day.

To my big shock, I noticed indications that my rented place had been broken into. Well, actually, the burglar didn’t really break into the house; the door was open all along. And probably, finding the lone house resident asleep like a log, the fellow had an equally easy time taking whatever he liked.

My wallet, which was placed on the small table near the bed, was gone; including all the coins beside it. And the mobile phone, and the wrist watch, and the headphones, and the rubber shoes, and so on.  The cheque, however, was not taken; the envelope containing it was still there on the table.

While frantically checking what else was missing, it occurred to me that had I been able to cash the cheque early that day, I would have lost all that money too. Given my sad experience with the banking system at the time, I would have preferred to just keep the money at home. And the loss would have caused me to go nuts, or, at least, go berserk. Curiously, I remained composed, my mind still numb to take in anything seriously.

I locked the door securely and went back to sleep. And it was still a very sound sleep; I woke up late the following morning very well rested and fresh. I never told anyone about the burglary. I didn’t need the added stress from the embarrassment.

As I was checking around whether my unknown night visitor had left me anything to make for breakfast, the kids who sold me those raffle tickets the day before came. They tried to tell me something, but they were just so excited and talking simultaneously that it took a while for me to get the gist of their story. One of my tickets won second prize – twelve-thousand pesos cash!

Now, wasn’t that strange?