Courage

Ernest Hemingway defined it as “grace under pressure.” In a span of a few seconds, multiplied ten thousand-fold once the moment had gone viral; we had seen both courage in its humblest form and in its most perverse. At least, within the context of a deceptively banal traffic incident.

Like many other citizen motorists, I had never known Saturnino Fabros or Roberto Carabuena before I clicked on that link while browsing through Facebook, yet we all know that we’ve seen their kind many times in our life. The former represents the typical working stiff: overworked, underpaid, struggling to pay the bills, and underappreciated. What’s more, he’s part of the public work force, representing an agency we all love to hate at one time or other. Then we learn that the man supports six kids on minimum wage and is a widower makes our coddled, privileged lives so easy by comparison.

Try to live like him for a week and try not to go berserk at the slightest provocation. And that brings us to Mr. Carabuena, who by all accounts seems to come from a well-to-do family, with a good education, and a white collar job. Yet in that fleeting moment caught on camera, one person stood his ground with dignity while the other practically frothed at the mouth with self-righteous anger, gesticulating wildly, and ultimately landing a humiliating slap on the face of authority.

Yet despite that affront to his dignity, Mr. Fabros chose to keep his cool and walk away. A lesser man would have fought back with justification, or called on his “resbaks” to beat the other guy to a pulp, but he did not. For that he is a better man than many of us who would have gone ballistic at such a provocation and insult to the male ego.

That’s Courage right there for you, dear readers.

And then, of course, there is the other kind of false courage exemplified by Mr. Carabuena. It’s the kind that can be bought with money, such as the nice luxury car he was driving, his stature in life compared to Fabros, and a possible belief that he could get away with whatever he liked, beginning with beating a red light, and then publicly humiliating and assaulting the person who had the gall to call him out for it. Call it “Status Courage.”

And now let me call for a stop to the last kind, which is called “Keyboard Courage.” I can’t begin to count how many netizens have come up with the most vivid ways to punish Mr. Carabuena, but the ones that really grate are the references to the humble pig. In the first place, insults referring to one’s physical appearance are cheap and lacking in class. Let’s just stick to the issue, folks.

For another thing, it insults the poor pig. Pigs are, to my mind, some of the most pitiful animals on the planet. They live in their own filth, are fattened up like, well, pigs, and only live a few years before being slaughtered so we can have our bacon and lechon and sisig. A pig is a powerless creature whose only claims to fame are the fictional “Babe” and “Wilbur.” Let’s give the pig some dignity: they march to the slaughterhouse with a stoic courage none of us could ever have. Or maybe they just don’t know what’s coming to them.

Indeed, if we will compare that little episode to any sort of animal behavior, the closest I can think of is the gorilla. Being territorial animals, male gorillas will make one hell of a noise, thumping their chests and baring their teeth to scare of any other gorillas or in their midst. At least that’s what I remember from watching Animal Planet and King Kong.

If you are taking a hike in the jungle and come across such a fearsome creature, the most sensible thing to do is to walk away. Come to think of it, that is exactly what Mr. Fabros did.

Not that I am now saying Mr. Carabuena is a gorilla, of course. Just an observation on how extreme human behavior has parallels with the simian species.

But I digress. “Keyboard Courage” is cheap and risky. It brings us down to the level of our subjects. The power of the Internet mob gives one the false sense of security in denigrating offenders and challenging them with all sorts of tough-guy taunts. “Lilitsonin kita!,” “Sapakan na lang tayo!,” or “I’d like to stick my .45 in your mouth, pig!” are some of the recurring themes.

We must always be careful what we wish for. Karma may be a Bitch, but Courage will always have its day.

I salute you, Mr. Fabros.