THANKS God It’s Friday.

Sounds awkward, eh? Because it should be Thank God It’s Friday. Besides, it’s not Friday yet.

One Friday that I’ll always remember, though, was last Friday when we had a despedida for the Tom Holland of Cagayan de Oro. Held at a KTV bar, the ages of that group ranged from 20s to senior moments, with much thanks to Tom who had brought us together by constantly inviting us to brunch and coffee after gym. This is one guy who could unite people through his kindness.

So, try to imagine the different generations of the songs we were singing. When the young ones asked me what I, the young once, wanted to sing, I told them, Just choose whatever you like, and I’ll sing with you. And—surprise! surprise!—I was indeed able to, at least for Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.” Although for a while there, I thought they were referring to the Carpenters. Haha. Senior moment pa more.

I do sing Carpenters songs at KTV bars because they’re easy to sing. For example: “When I was young/I’d listen to the radio/Waitin’ for my favorite songs/When they played I’d sing along/It made me smile.”

Aside from it’s easy to sing, I could relate with it:

“When I was young”—note the past tense. My topics sometimes start with “When I was young” for Marcos’s Martial Law years, the 1983 Ninoy Aquino assassination, the 1986 People Power, and other parts of Philippine history.

“I’d listen to the radio”—the young ones can’t relate with this anymore since they have Spotify, YouTube, etc.

“Waitin’ for my favorite songs”—which could take hours way back in the 1970s and 1980s unless I’d “Mr DJ can I make a request” a la Sharon Cuneta.

“When they played I’d sing along.” In the ‘70s and ‘80s, I’d sing along and record the songs using a cassette recorder.

It was only at the KTV bar that I heard Sza’s “Saturn” for the first time, and the first thought that came to mind was Zsa Zsa Padilla.

Another first time to hear: “Sabot Sabot” by Phylum. “Maikog na nuon ko sa pagbiya na niya/Kay gipaila-ila nako sa iyang mama.”

When the 40-something began singing his chosen song, it was the young ones’ turn to ask each other, Do you know that song?

Talk of generation gap. Thus, it was amazing for Tom to keep this group together despite that gap. The young ones learned about Philippine history from me, the young once. And I learned that they love Katy Perry, too—another surprise.

Coldplay, Tears for Fears, and Billie Eilish were among our common denominators—everyone was familiar with their songs. Which elicited a deep sigh of relief from me. Community singing pa more. Yay!

But the song that’s currently in my mental playlist is BINI’s “Salamin, Salamin” but with some changes in its lyrics: Salamin salamin sa dingding nasa’n na si Quiboloy/Salamin salamin sa dingding pwede mo bang sabihin/Salamin salamin sa dingding nasa’n na si Quiboloy.

Where is he? Only God knows?