how to lose customers (without really trying)

yesterday, as i was hurrying home from the airport (i had just dropped off my parents and sister for their weekend jaunt to Singapore), i passed this tiny roadside karinderya where a couple of women were teetering on the edge of a thrilling verbal catfight.

Customer (in a voice dripping with sarcasm): “parang ayaw nyo po yatang dagdagan ng sabaw yung in-order to…“
Tindera (who was industriously adding huge scoops of sabaw in a plastic): “ha??“

Customer: “kasi ho napansin ko lang, nahihiya po yata kayong lagyan yan ng sahog. puro na lang sabaw ang nilalagay nyo… kanina ko pa kayo inaawat e ayaw nyo namang tigilan ng kasasalok ng sabaw!”

Tindera (now obviously offended, glares at the customer): “alam mo, numerong reklamadora ka talaga. dapat sa yo, yung ibibigay na pagkain me lason!”

by then, i was out of earshot.

i don’t know what happened after that, but i’m having a tough time deciding as to who gets my sympathy vote (my apologies to the warring tabbies, but i just couldn’t help but chuckle as i was walking away). that customer better find another karinderya to patronize soon though. better safe than sorry, ika nga.

family trees

of all the headlines that caught my eye yesterday, one particular tidbit made me smile.

according to reports, Hilary Clinton is distantly related to Angelina Jolie (say what?!); conversely, it also seems that Barack Obama is a distant cousin to Brad Pitt (no, really?). i am not really sure about the details but somehow this tickles me no end.

after all the sniping and mudslinging in the US primaries (particularly in the Democratic Party), this one came out as an unexpected and amusing sidelight. i guess mixing politicians and celebrities is one surefire way of adding zest to elections. now, it only needs for John McCain to come up with his ‘own’ celebrity relative to spruce up his own campaign…

family trees are weird things. you never know what sort of odd ties you can find in your family line until somebody digs deeply enough and remind you about them.

good portent on a maundy thursday

after some hasty planning i finally found the time to meet a friend at her office in RCBC Plaza (yep, apparently they had a lot of deliverables for this day too). as expected, there wasn’t much traffic so i got there rather quickly.

we proceeded from her spacious work area to the roomy office pantry (about 10 times the size of ours), which had a good panoramic view of some parts of makati. after brewing some coffee we settled on a corner table. during a brief lull, we looked up and saw this remarkable view.

it looks like your regular late-afternoon urban skyscape, except for the rainbow that arched across the sky.

from our vantage point the view looked like a nicely framed, postcard-perfect backdrop as we discussed a few things about our respective work and common friends. i guess it’s such a rare occurrence to see a rainbow these days that we couldn’t help but stop talking every once in a while to admire the view.

maybe it’s a bit ironic that this celestial spectacle should appear on a Maunday Thursday, of all days. it would’ve seemed more appropriate had it appeared on a day like Easter Sunday — you know, to signal things like hope, renewal, resurrection, etc. or something like that — but all things considered, that’s just mere quibbling. i’ll take and appreciate what i can get.

and if this portent is a signal that something good lies ahead, i think i’ll take that as a good sign.

a closer view…

meme: songs that lend color to your life

Here’s an amusing meme from Karmee. it didn’t take me long to finish this one, and some of the songs that popped out made me laugh.

So how does it work? just follow the rules below:

1. Open your music library (iTunes, Media Player, iPod, Winamp, ZVM, etc.)
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question/subject, type the song that’s playing.
5. When you go to the next question, press the next button.
6. Don’t lie and pretend you’re cool.
[you may add your reaction, too, if you like.]

***********************************************************
1. Opening credits:
La Vie En Rose (Sophie Milman)
<erm… sounds too optimistic, pero pwede na rin>

2. Waking up:
Can’t Get Enough of Your Love (Barry White)
<this made me laugh out loud. Hearing Barry White’s gravelly voice always makes me shiver and grin like a loon for some reason>

3. First Day of School:
Peaceful Easy Feeling (Eagles)
<ironic>

4. Falling in love:
The Zephyr Song (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
<uh-huh… love the song though>

5. First song:
Sweet Baby James (James Taylor)
<if you’re feeling mellow you can’t go wrong with ol’ JT>                  

6. Breaking up:
Walking After You (Foo Fighters)
<is this fate or what? *cough* di naman masyadong desperate *flushing*>

7. Prom:
Are You In (Incubus)
<i always get the most incongruous songs. no wonder my HS prom was so messed up>

8. Life:
Reasons (Earth, Wind & Fire)
<for some inexplicable reason, this song sounds apt>

9. Mental breakdown:
Loser (Beck)
<waaaahh! bull’s eye! i didn’t cheat on this one, i swear. the song just came out *pulls out arrow from chest*>

10. Driving:
Harder to Breath (Maroon 5)
<hmm… is this some sort of a warning or what?>

11. Flashback:
You Don’t Love Me Anymore (Weird Al Yankovic)
<another great pick! zany Al always makes my day. he’s insane but he’s hilarious>
     
12. Getting back together:
Samba Do Soho (Lisa Ono)
<it’s samba… what can i say?>

13. Wedding:
Hard to Handle (Black Crowes)
<how poetic (pathetic?) heheheh>

14.Birth of a child:
Girls of Summer (Aerosmith)
<???>

5. Final battle:
No Diggity (Dr. Dre & co.)
<the most laid-back ‘battle’ song ever. bring it on!>

16. Death scene:
If I Didn’t Have You (Billy Crystal.)
<I loved Monsters Inc. Pwede na to>

17. Funeral song:
New Sensation (INXS)
<part of the lyrics goes "Live baby live, now that the night is over…" how’s that for determination?>

18. End credits:
Save Room (John Legend)
<i guess it’s one way of saying "i’m not done yet">

—-FIN—

so Pseudoshrink, Alvin, Daisy, Trish and Alia, whip out your players and set your life to music…

rude awakening

after missing 2 days of work, i thought i’d report earlier today to make up for lost time. so i stumbled outdoors to buy some supplies at the corner 7-eleven store.

as i trudged back from my errand, grateful for the chance to stretch my lethargic muscles, i began thinking about the amount of work that must be piling up on my desk.

a few feet away from our gate, i jerked back in stupefaction.

my jaw dropped and the gum that i was chewing moments earlier fell into the pavement as i beheld this unabashedly, gloriously pink building that seemed to have sprouted overnight.

i looked around to check my bearings and realized with dismay that it was no illusion. the middling-sized, discreet-looking and beige-colored structure that had comfortably housed my quarters for the last 3 years has turned into some playground PINK landmark! and to add insult to injury, it even shared the same hue as the pink urinals that have been dotting the metro’s main thoroughfares for some time now. the only thing missing was the heavenly aroma.

an incessant beeping from a biker behind me brought me back to my senses. i moved aside hastily, and after a furtive glance to check if anyone was looking, i surreptitiously ducked inside.

so this must be what that loud knocking was all about last monday morning, i thought. (i’d been sick since sunday so i was basically oblivious to everything that was happening outside my bedroom.) it was way earlier than my usual waking time and my aching limbs refused to move. after a while, the knocking stopped. figuring it probably wasn’t that important, i dropped back to sleep. i realize now that it was my landlord’s way of informing us that he was embarking on his latest home improvement project.

so now i live in a pink house. not just some pastel or discreet shade of pink, mind you, but the flamboyant, hit-you-right-between-the-eyes kind of pink. ye gods!

i don’t know what i would’ve done if i had known this was going to happen. i realize of course that it’s the owner’s (our landlord’s brother-in-law) prerogative to choose whatever color he fancies, but i think i would’ve raised a fuss if i had known. or something. frankly, i never would have figured the owner to have this capricious desire to outshine his neighbors because he seemed like a sober, prosaic fellow.

but pink? sheesh… bottomline, i shudder at the idea of being known as somebody who “lives in this pink house.” why, it’s almost like an open invitation to get lynched by a bloodthirsty mob and dropped over some unmarked grave for having the temerity of casting everyone else into the shade.

so now, everytime, i enter the building i just duck my head and pretend i’m having some bad dream and will undoubtedly wake up by the time i reach my front door. *sigh* i guess it’s time to look for a different place. i can’t take much more of this.