On Devotion

If your mother used to tell you, "You should have a devotion," and didn't know what it meant, don't worry, that makes us two.

Shrine of San Antonio De Padua
Pila, Laguna

She used to tell me that when I was a kid, but never really understood. I never really knew what it meant. I was a kid, well, old enough to give up playing Cops and Robbers, but too young to understand these words.

This is just one of the million things that mothers told us about life. And this is just one of those thousand things that we never really bothered to understand.

But I guess I understand it now, somehow.

Ever since I was good enough to ride the jeepney after my surgery, I never failed to go on Tuesdays. And that, is a record for me. If this is what my mom called devotion, then, I should have been brave enough and humble enough to ask her back then, what it meant, so I could have followed her since. But mothers will usually just keep quiet about it, hoping that one day, we will understand what she said and leave it to Him to enlighten us.

But ours is a HIM who understands; who gives us time to realize things, who gives us unlimited chances to discover what it is to make a mistake and learn from it.

One Tiangge Day

Right after mass, we went to the palengke (martket) to buy light bulb. But we were not gearing for anything branded since we just wanted to buy a five-watt bulb to light certain corners. So, we were really going to the tiangge to look for some cheap ones. Tiangges are those stalls outside the market place which are on the side of the road and unfortunately, occupying space that's supposed to be used for cars.

Anyway.

Tiangges are part of the Filipino culture. They are stalls set up one day a week outside the market place. The stalls are made up of collapsible materials that these people put up by dawn and tear down by dusk. The perception about tiangges is that you can buy things a lot cheaper on these stalls than anywhere inside the market place.

I have always wondered how much these people pay for this thing and today was my chance to talk to one of those byiaheros (travellers). The people who operates these tiangges are called biyaheros because they transfer everyday from town to town, where there is tiangge. I had a time to talk to the owner since my sister and his helper had to cross the street where we could test the bulbs if they are working.

I started by asking where they get their goods from and he said, "Divisoria." Then I asked where are they when it's not Sunday and not tiangge day here in our town. He said they are in Victoria on Mondays, Pila on Tuesdays, rest day on Wednesdays, etc.

Then I shifted and ask about their puhunan (capital).

At first, the owner was kind of hesitant to talk. I was asking how much they paid for the stall, something like how much they bought the space they occupy. He said that he's not allowed to talk about it and up to now, I wonder why. But I was kind of insistent so I got my answer, but he said it's just an estimate. He said that normally, he's not allowed to talk about it because, "bawal ho e." (It's forbiddent) but then he went on saying, let's just say a friend used to own this and one of the members of the family got sick and we just tried to help; that's why I got the place. I paid him something like Php 20,000 to get the place and we have daily fees.

Daily fees? There is a ticket they pay for Php 150.00, then his wife said that they also pay something for the police (which I couldn't really explain to myself, which she didn't elaborate, too) and the makeshift tables, the makeshift roof and the workers that carry the goods. All these would amount to about Php350.00, not including their meals for the day.

Then he said, "That's why we really need to make some money."

I smiled, paid and said goodbye.

So that's how much money they put to start operating the stall and that's how much money they need everyday to pay for the stall's daily expenses.

The Fad That Evolved Into a Habit

The JEJEMON website

Wow, I just saw this a few minutes ago, and I really can't believe that they have a website, and I think it's not a free hosting, since it says http://www.jejemons.org/.

I just can't believe it!

I am not a supportive of these JEJEMONS. I just think that it is not a fad. Because as it turned out, this fad has evolved into a habit, and those youths that started this type of 'language' and 'culture' are now feeling the effects of this so-called fad. What was a fad became a habit, and the habit seems to have become their way of life. That is why this website here says that a certain percentage of employers are likely not to hire applicants using the language.

I think this is fair enough. There are a lot of youths out there who are struggling to study hard and keep it right. They do not go out of their way just to give in to peer pressure even if it means that they would not be as popular as those who adapt the jejemon language and the culture.

In fact, I admire those youths who, after all the hardship of peer pressure, still come out as one of the best students of their class.