Clean cabinets

By today, there should be a lot of cabinets and aparadors in the city that are clean and orderly. That’s because more and more city folk are discovering the joys of staying in the city during the long Holy Week break–not just staying in the city but staying at home and using the time to clean out their cabinets, to do some spring cleaning as the sun gets into high heat, to untangle the clutter in their lives–literally and figuratively.

My friend Francis is the original "maglilinis ng cabinet" guy, for whom sorting out old clothes (he once "gifted" me with t-shirts that were about a third of his current size–that’s how long he’d had them) and finding unopened gifts from many Christmases ago is most effective therapy. Vivian who works in a bank has had a head start, using the unexpected one day holiday in San Juan the other week to tidy up her kids’ things. "This weekend it’s my time!" she exulted last Tuesday, with a look of happy anticipated accomplishment on her face.

For us here in The STAR, where all other holidays don’t mean additional time off, this is about the only extended holiday we have. And I was surprised to find out that I’m not the only one raring to get at my accumulated clutter. One guy–to remain unnamed–says he has an annual ritual of cleaning out the X-rated DVDs in his closet and burning them, a symbolic "cleansing" in keeping with the season. I suggested holding a garage sale here in the office tomorrow, where all those who did spring cleaning these past few days can turn their trash into cash. But I don’t think there are any takers, because the trash cleaned out is probably too embarrassing–scandalous is more like it–to show in public. But whatever the state of their minds and psyches may be, at least their cabinets–and mine–are clean.

Happy Easter to all.