It's all about the good karma..
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Just got home from picking up Iris from her medical school org activity "thing". I live five houses from her, so I'm pretty much her driver whenever she has to be out late at night. So yeah. Encountered the usual slew of Friday traffic along the south super highway going to Quirino. Halfway to Quirino, Iris calls and tells me to just wait for her someplace convenient since the rain pretty much caused the route to Nagtahan, Aurora, etc. to be jammed with traffic. I was thinking of meeting her by Cash And Carry, but I figured that area probably had traffic too from the flooded spot at Buendia. I spot a Pan De Manila and I agree to meet her there while she hitches a ride with a classmate.
I park out front of the Pan De Manila, and get greeted by this friendly security guard. I asked him if I could wait out front for someone after buying something from the store. Upon entering the store I notice these 2 kids, girls, they turn out to be sisters. They were selling their sampaguita bundles, but kinda stopped since it was raining pretty hard. See here in the Philippines, we have kids who go around the city (usually along the main roads) who sell flowers to people in traffic. Usually these flower bundles end up as offerings placed on altars, or sometimes if one is fond of the scent of the sampaguita, it ends up being hung on the rearview mirror. Sometimes these kids kinda get one your nerves when they literally sometimes push themeselves onto you bugging you incesstantly about how they just want cash for food. Anyway, so yeah one of the girls was bawling in tears. I felt bad about how she was crying, I was half guessing she was crying because she was hungry, or she just wanted to go home. It was cold, wet, and looking at the clock it was close to 11PM. Other kids their age would be home playing their PS2's, reading their Harry Potter books, watching something on TV, or just sleeping after the week's barrage of schoolwork. So I went ahead and bought bought of them bags of pan de sal (bread) and cheese bars. The security guard took the liberty of getting them drinks, out of his own cash. Great guy, really. Some "sekyu's" would just shoo these kids off so as not to "inconvenience" the customers. Anyway so yeah I gave the two of them the bags and was joking with the crying girl to stop, asking her too why she was crying. She didn't feel like talking, and her sister along with the guard told me "Sinusumpong po" (She's having Tantrums). Oh. Ok. I head into my car and as I was opening my bag of pan de sal, I looked out my window and saw the kid selling her flowers despite of the rain and cold. I felt bad about how everyone was safe, dry and warm at home or inside their cars these kids and I'm sure a lot more like them were out trying to just raise enough cash to buy their next meals. I just had to do something at that point. I called for the kid. Asked her if she'd promise me she and her kid sister would go home if I bought all their bundles. She said yeah. Gave her cash and told her to keep the change.
You know it's been a while since I bought anything from people selling stuff on the streets. I remember the last time I bought something was when I was with Iris, it was Christmas and this guy was selling these blinking star-pendants. Iris loves stars, and the guy had only one left. Iris and I wanted him to just be off and go home to his family. So yeah, we bought it.
Anyway, I felt like crying, really, after seeing those two kids go home. It was kinda beautiful seeing how the older girl had her raincoat, and her wet sister was crying -- the older sister took off one arm of the raincoat and managed to fit her sister and her inside the raincoat which I'm sure I'd barely fit into. They even ran into this other girl still in her school uniform bare feet; some small talk and they parted ways. Probably a schoolmate. *Sigh*. One day. One day. I'm going to have enough money to take these kids off off the streets. Give them food, shelter and education. One day. I've had that in my book of "promises"/"things to do before I die" for years now.
I went home with my car smelling like sampaguita. My rearview mirror blocked with all the bundles I bought.
:)
--
Oh my mom and dad are home from the Beach Boys concernt. :)
I park out front of the Pan De Manila, and get greeted by this friendly security guard. I asked him if I could wait out front for someone after buying something from the store. Upon entering the store I notice these 2 kids, girls, they turn out to be sisters. They were selling their sampaguita bundles, but kinda stopped since it was raining pretty hard. See here in the Philippines, we have kids who go around the city (usually along the main roads) who sell flowers to people in traffic. Usually these flower bundles end up as offerings placed on altars, or sometimes if one is fond of the scent of the sampaguita, it ends up being hung on the rearview mirror. Sometimes these kids kinda get one your nerves when they literally sometimes push themeselves onto you bugging you incesstantly about how they just want cash for food. Anyway, so yeah one of the girls was bawling in tears. I felt bad about how she was crying, I was half guessing she was crying because she was hungry, or she just wanted to go home. It was cold, wet, and looking at the clock it was close to 11PM. Other kids their age would be home playing their PS2's, reading their Harry Potter books, watching something on TV, or just sleeping after the week's barrage of schoolwork. So I went ahead and bought bought of them bags of pan de sal (bread) and cheese bars. The security guard took the liberty of getting them drinks, out of his own cash. Great guy, really. Some "sekyu's" would just shoo these kids off so as not to "inconvenience" the customers. Anyway so yeah I gave the two of them the bags and was joking with the crying girl to stop, asking her too why she was crying. She didn't feel like talking, and her sister along with the guard told me "Sinusumpong po" (She's having Tantrums). Oh. Ok. I head into my car and as I was opening my bag of pan de sal, I looked out my window and saw the kid selling her flowers despite of the rain and cold. I felt bad about how everyone was safe, dry and warm at home or inside their cars these kids and I'm sure a lot more like them were out trying to just raise enough cash to buy their next meals. I just had to do something at that point. I called for the kid. Asked her if she'd promise me she and her kid sister would go home if I bought all their bundles. She said yeah. Gave her cash and told her to keep the change.
You know it's been a while since I bought anything from people selling stuff on the streets. I remember the last time I bought something was when I was with Iris, it was Christmas and this guy was selling these blinking star-pendants. Iris loves stars, and the guy had only one left. Iris and I wanted him to just be off and go home to his family. So yeah, we bought it.
Anyway, I felt like crying, really, after seeing those two kids go home. It was kinda beautiful seeing how the older girl had her raincoat, and her wet sister was crying -- the older sister took off one arm of the raincoat and managed to fit her sister and her inside the raincoat which I'm sure I'd barely fit into. They even ran into this other girl still in her school uniform bare feet; some small talk and they parted ways. Probably a schoolmate. *Sigh*. One day. One day. I'm going to have enough money to take these kids off off the streets. Give them food, shelter and education. One day. I've had that in my book of "promises"/"things to do before I die" for years now.
I went home with my car smelling like sampaguita. My rearview mirror blocked with all the bundles I bought.
:)
--
Oh my mom and dad are home from the Beach Boys concernt. :)
posted by Jomz, 12:26 AM
