The week that was

DECADES ago, Holy Week meant slowing down starting on the Saturday right before Palm Sunday. Now, it’s for the grand vacation, also starting on that Saturday. Better that than having the same daily schedule, with Good Friday as the only day for meditation and reflection? Hmmm.

Holy Wednesday was the busiest day for me since it was the last working day not only for the week but for the month. I morphed into an Energizer Bunny as I kept going and going from the gym to the bank, to a warehouse club, to a supermarket, and back to the gym for a two-hour Zumba.

And at the warehouse club’s cashier, the membership card of some guy had already expired, and he insisted it’s not, so the cashier had to go to some office to verify if it’s expired, and she came back to tell him it’s indeed expired, and he had to fill up a form for the renewal, and…

This story can also keep going and going. To make it short, here’s the shorter version: we waited and waited until our respective ages showed on our face, hair, and joints. He did have the decency to tell us, Nadugay na nuon ta. Did I smile and make pa-cute and say it’s okay? Nope. I simply stared at him.

Lesson learned: don’t go to the warehouse club and supermarket on Holy Wednesday. That’s when their customers behave like they’re fighting for the last chopper out of Saigon. Much like what happens on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

Another lesson learned: don’t go to the supermarket on Holy Saturday for the same reason.

On Easter Sunday, the supermarket had a few customers, perhaps because everyone else was at the beach.

One thing I noticed, though, I didn’t know anyone at the warehouse club and supermarket. Vacationers? That’s the Holy Week phenomenon when the Cagayanon prefers to be anywhere but here, and the non-Cagayanon prefers to be here than anywhere.

There was no traffic in Cagayan de Oro on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, Masterson Avenue looked like an empty runway at night, thanks to its solar studs.

The first time I saw solar studs was in Carcar, Cebu. It was a wow moment. I didn’t know then that CDO would eventually have its own “runway.”

Now, solar studs are here, there, and everywhere. They’ve become the norm. No big deal anymore. Except for the installation cost which can be a big deal—ka-ching!

The installation cost could have been used for lots of groceries already. For which I now have a new hard habit to break: buying items that have Safeguard in them, such as Downy and Joy dishwashing liquid. And the detergent has to have Downy. Cleanliness is next to godliness man daw. Which could be the mantra of the solar-stud installer: the more solar studs, the less people will notice the garbage on the streets and sidewalks at night. Yay.

I’m not saying the solar studs are meant to cover up the garbage. I’m simply saying solar studs are like “stars/Look how they shine for you.”