THE downtown cinema ticket counter opens at 11:30 am since their first screening is at 12 noon. By the time it’s almost noon, that’s when they’ll ask ticket buyers if there’s anyone there for the noon screening. So, it’s rush rush rush for the 12-noon audience who could be cursing under their breath while warming up for a sprint to the cinema.
Meanwhile, at about 11:30 am on July 31, the weather-weather app said that Cagayan de Oro was 33 degrees Celsius and felt like 37. Since Egay was then leaving Luzon and Falcon was about to arrive there, is that what happens to Mindanao when there’s a typhoon in Luzon? Still, if typhoons prefer Luzon, it’s not politically correct to say Visayas and Mindanao are blessed for having sunny weather.
CDO used to be lucky enough to be typhoon-free. And then, Sendong happened.
It’s good to express gratitude for blessings but to proclaim that a place is blessed is like flaunting your Hermes Birkin while conducting a feeding program in a slum area.
Urban Dictionary defines “empathy” as the “ability to identify with and understand somebody else’s feelings or difficulties.” Even Urban Dictionary couldn’t make fun of that meaning which might explain another meaning, that of the proverb, “Birds of a feather flock together.”
Birds of a feather may have the same hobbies and habits, and when they’re invited to a gathering, they prefer to go there together. Because they don’t want to be OOP—out of place.
There was a time when you’d see only a few people eating out, watching movies, or shopping alone. Now, there are lots of them—people eating alone, watching movies alone, shopping alone, even traveling alone. Perhaps they’re too tired to make plans with the flock, plans that may go pfft anyway. These are the same people who will go to parties without any assurance that their friends will be there. And if their, hmmm, enemies are the ones who are there, they will still eat, drink, and party because tomorrow they will eat, drink, and party again.
Julia Cameron’s advice for the weekly Artist’s Date is it should be done alone. It’s actually a date with yourself. Which the married, engaged, and partnered may consider as lonely.
Now, how many times have you felt lonely while with your significant other? You see such couples in restos and cafes. They’re quietly dining together, with emphasis on “quiet,” or they’re busy with their mobiles, or sadly staring into space, as if being with each other is the worst thing that has ever happened to them. And here you are, having your Artist’s Date, and so tempted to force-feed them with medium-rare ribeyes to awaken their endorphins. But then, you remember the meaning of “empathy.”
It so happens that the ribeye you ordered is not delish, and you’re now calculating how much money you’ve wasted on this pathetic slab of meat. But then, you remember the meaning of “empathy” again. So, you decide to stay as quiet as the couples who don’t talk with each other, and then you swear never to return to that resto.
Swear, by the way, means “promise” or “curse”—take your pick.
