Journey of Eros

1. There was a drizzle and some students, mostly girls, were sitting on the pavement in front of the Landbank ATM. As soon as the man snatched the receipt dispensed by the ATM, I immediately took over and excitedly inserted my card at the blinking slit. No allowance yet. With an expression that could rival a loser’s, I headed to my class. The loser’s face burnt like hell when he saw the same students in the pavement, and realized they were indeed queuing, probably waiting for several minutes for their turns!

And this loser, after realizing his grave mistake, uttered his apologies in his sincerest way, trying to convince everyone that he was not dumb. But he looked like one at that moment. Face and ears red, he repeatedly vowed to them saying sorry a gazillion times. The girls didn’t seem to mind. They might have understood the loser’s dumbness.

2. We were brainstorming for a good plot in our Spanish class in college when an interesting idea came to mind. A supressed thought needs to be blurt out. My groupmates were eager to hear my suggestion when I darted my hand to the air.

"Okay. Here’s the storyline - a girl has a suitor and the world is about to end because of a meteoride that will bump our planet. The girl is deaf… so on and so forth."

I was a timid boy in college. Rarely, almost never, spoke in front of the class. Timidity was their idea of kindness so they thought I came from the ancestry of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. My speech came as an early Christmas suprise to them. Their glued attention to me proved that. So I was confident to continue blabbering, adding ideas that would spice up the story I was bargaining and kept on pronouncing "deaf" as "dif." It was not until a brave soul tried to correct me that it’s "deaf" as in "def" and not "dif." My voice faltered, almost inaudible, but I still finished my concept.

Since I was timid and kind, I didn’t bother to explain why I pronounced it that way. It happened again when I pronounced "abono" with a hard "o." Saying sorry tao lang seemed futile to shake off the embarrassment.

No, I was present in every English class in high school so I wouldn’t miss any lesson in pronunciation. It’s just that nobody in the province cared if we pronounce the o’s and e’s the same way we use u’s and i’s. Nine for Nene and Tuyang for Toyang never matter.

3. For the past few days, I was addicted in Yahoo! Answer. You browse for questions, answer those that interest you, you get two points and if your answer is chosen as the best one, you receive 10 points. Below is one of the many I got.

What Was Your Most Embarrassing Moment?

I was aboard on a certain ferry from the province to Manila. To those who belong to the first-world countries, I’m sure this kind of sea transport doesn’t exist in your place. Anyway, this boat also transports animals and vehicles stationed at the lowest deck. Unfortunately, that deck also serves as the way out.

The boat was about to leave. The crew members were already untying the knots from the dock to release the boat. I was waiting for my friend and her ticket was with me. When the boat was about to close, I saw her running, carrying a luggage, toward the boat. I tried to get the attention of the ship crew to stop the door from hoisting up.

And here comes the climax: I was kicked by a cow when I tried to pass by toward the entrance to give my friend her ticket. Almost everyone saw that unfortunate event. I even heard some laughing. I could feel my face turned pink.

I regret the fact that I didn’t kick the cow in return.

Person who posted the question left his comment: "Wow."