Counting blessings

At past 10 on Wednesday night in Manila’s Divisoria district, traffic crawled in the area of the fruit and vegetable wholesalers. Everywhere truckloads of imported apples, oranges, lemons, kiat-kiat, pears and grapes were being unloaded.

The merchants must be preparing for the traditional spike in demand for round fruits to greet the New Year.

Although it was late at night, there was discernible enthusiasm in the movements even of the guys laboriously pushing the carts stacked sky-high with fruits and vegetables.

At the Tutuban night market, where the crowd was sparse when I visited earlier this month, the shoppers were out in full force, brushing against each other. That was no 70 percent outdoor capacity; it looked more like 700 percent.

On TV earlier in the day, I saw the same crowd density in the market. I thought there would be fewer people around at night, but I was mistaken; it is, after all, the only Christmas night market in Metro Manila and nearby areas.

Being paranoid about Omicron, I decided not to wade into the crowd, and just leave. That crowd was oblivious of infection risks. Several shoppers, like many of the fruit and vegetable vendors, were no longer wearing face masks.

The handful of uniformed cops around were mainly directing traffic. Maybe they were trying but were utterly helpless in enforcing distancing, and they probably weren’t tasked to enforce masking.

Driving home before 11 p.m., I also saw near-pre-pandemic traffic on the eastbound lane from SM Mall of Asia.

The economy is bouncing back to life. At least this year of misery is ending with some good news, bringing cheer in what is traditionally a season of joy.

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These days people are talking about revenge spending, by those who have been confined to their homes for nearly two years, particularly teenagers. I saw a lot of youths at the Tutuban market. There were even young children at that late hour, probably brought along by their parents so the kids themselves could pick out the toys they wanted for Christmas.

After being quarantined for 21 months, and developing headaches from staring too long at gadget screens, minors of all ages are among the happiest this season.

Christmas, after all, is for children. They are back in malls, restaurants, parks and basketball courts. The coffee and milk tea shops again teem with teens hanging out with friends.

Minors also drive foot traffic in commercial centers. So the business community is looking forward to the full resumption of in-person classes nationwide by January… unless Omicron intervenes.

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Revenge spending obviously is only for those with money to spend. These people will also fuel a revenge tourism boom once COVID has been sufficiently tamed. Even with the threat posed by Omicron, some of them have gingerly resumed leisure travel, to the delight of the battered tourism industry.

For many others, unfortunately, the year is ending in misery, with the prospect of more of the same in the coming year. Millions of people remain jobless because of the pandemic, and their numbers have increased in the areas devastated by Super Typhoon Odette.

The Supreme Court has ordered all Christmas lights switched off in courts in a show of sympathy with the typhoon victims, while the Catholic bishops are urging the faithful to tone down Christmas parties.

Around the world there have been reports of higher cases of depression and suicide during periods of festivities. For the sorrowful, despondency can be deepened by the sight of others celebrating, and by memories of happier times.

Livelihood loss (and the loss of loved ones for about 200 families) are not the only problems faced by those who experienced the fury of Odette. Now they must contend with the challenges of surviving from one day to the next, without electricity, clean water, shelter or change of clothes, dependent on dole-outs for food.

As in the past, Filipinos are grateful for the sympathy and swift response of the international community in providing aid, despite their own problems in grappling with a fresh wave of variant-driven COVID. The swift humanitarian response is another piece of good news.

Odette, however, is weighing heavily on efforts to think positive in this season of cheer. Economic analysts are warning that the massive devastation from Odette has significantly derailed pandemic recovery, complicated COVID response and swollen the ranks of the poor.

For Christmas, I normally highlight the year’s positive developments. Looking at the glass half-full, however, has been a challenge in this awful year, and has become even more so due to Odette and the threat of Omicron.

Still, it is good for our mental, spiritual and physical health to look on the bright side and count our blessings as we celebrate the birth of the Savior.

And so, even for those of us who see 2021 as a horrible year, we wish others a merry Christmas, and all the blessings of the season.

For the distressed souls for whom joy is elusive in this season, may you find hope, comfort and moments of peace this Christmas.