Lol Karma?
Today was a wet, rainy day. To prove this point, I had to go take a shower the moment I got home from McDo. I was that wet. ...Oh, and, yeah, unfortunately the Hector and Andromache visual aids got wet too. My grandmother's drying them at this very moment. This I means I can't draw the needed scenes for our Timeline Activity either. Not yet, at least. Like I have to wait until everything's completely dry. ...Because everything was seriously so fucking wet.
Geez.
But anyway, yeah, today I got hit by karma. It is a well-known fact that street children hang around outside McDonald's. A very well-known fact. It is also a well-known fact that they will try to get cabs and jeepneys for you. It is also another well-known fact that they will not settle for "mere gratitude" as payment. You have to give them a peso or two. Maybe five. Depends.
So there was this kid who tried helping my friend, Dindi, into her car. She was going to close the door, and the kid was making his way there, but since it was raining and the roads were slippery and stuff, the kid kind of... well... slipped. Butt-first. And I sorta-kinda laughed, yes. It was funny anyway, what could I do? I was under the assumption that the kid was only trying to help Dindi in to get some money or whatever. So yeah, I sort of giggled a bit.
Then, Dindi's car drove off. That was when the cab-hailing started.
Unfortunately, it was also when the rain got even worse.
Strong winds, slanting rain, useless umbrella... All that. And more. Like wet cartolinas, wet, sticky shorts, wet, icky, slippered feet (with muddy water seeping through your motherfucking toes), etc. It sucked. I can't bear to give you the details. I swear, one time, my umbrella almost flew off. Swear to God. It was so bloody rainy, I don't even know -- and the thunder-and-lightning combo hadn't even started yet.
Anyway, there I was waiting for a cab, getting wet, and getting sick too, probably, when this kid came running out of nowhere. When I turned to look, I saw that it was the kid who had slipped earlier on -- the one I so mercilessly giggled (secretly) at. He had his shirt over his head, and he was shivering really bad, but he was out there anyway. In the rain. And he was looking at me, and he asked (in our local dialect) if I needed a cab. I told him that I did, and then he just went off and looked for one. The hailing lasted for a long fucking time. Roughly twenty or even thirty minutes. I stood there, in the rain, with my useless umbrella and my other wet things, and this kid was trying to hail a cab for me.
Of course, I felt guilty. So I tried to hail a cab too. But each and every fucking cab that passed by already had a passenger in it. It sucked so fucking much. I was wet, and sick, and water was getting in my eyes, and I couldn't see clearly, and the air -- OH, GEEZ, THE AIR -- could seriously be seen as this weird white sort of mist -- I guess the rain was just that strong.
I was so happy when this cab finally stopped. The driver had obviously noticed the kid first, but he must've figured that it was only one of those "Kids Who Hail Cabs for Other People" types, so he stopped over at me. I got in with some difficulty and almost tried to close my umbrella while I was outside the cab, but then common sense got the better of me, and so I got inside first. I was seated already, but the door was still open, and I was still closing my umbrella. When I was through, I was just about to get the door, but then the kid got to it first. He kind of just nodded, and closed the door. I was saying "lamat jud, ha" over and over again, and the kid just fucking nodded. Like he didn't even ASK for any payment -- or hold his hand out at the very least. He just nodded and closed the damn door, shirt over his head, frail body shivering like mad.
It was insane.
And I was so guilty.
Jeez.
Geez.
But anyway, yeah, today I got hit by karma. It is a well-known fact that street children hang around outside McDonald's. A very well-known fact. It is also a well-known fact that they will try to get cabs and jeepneys for you. It is also another well-known fact that they will not settle for "mere gratitude" as payment. You have to give them a peso or two. Maybe five. Depends.
So there was this kid who tried helping my friend, Dindi, into her car. She was going to close the door, and the kid was making his way there, but since it was raining and the roads were slippery and stuff, the kid kind of... well... slipped. Butt-first. And I sorta-kinda laughed, yes. It was funny anyway, what could I do? I was under the assumption that the kid was only trying to help Dindi in to get some money or whatever. So yeah, I sort of giggled a bit.
Then, Dindi's car drove off. That was when the cab-hailing started.
Unfortunately, it was also when the rain got even worse.
Strong winds, slanting rain, useless umbrella... All that. And more. Like wet cartolinas, wet, sticky shorts, wet, icky, slippered feet (with muddy water seeping through your motherfucking toes), etc. It sucked. I can't bear to give you the details. I swear, one time, my umbrella almost flew off. Swear to God. It was so bloody rainy, I don't even know -- and the thunder-and-lightning combo hadn't even started yet.
Anyway, there I was waiting for a cab, getting wet, and getting sick too, probably, when this kid came running out of nowhere. When I turned to look, I saw that it was the kid who had slipped earlier on -- the one I so mercilessly giggled (secretly) at. He had his shirt over his head, and he was shivering really bad, but he was out there anyway. In the rain. And he was looking at me, and he asked (in our local dialect) if I needed a cab. I told him that I did, and then he just went off and looked for one. The hailing lasted for a long fucking time. Roughly twenty or even thirty minutes. I stood there, in the rain, with my useless umbrella and my other wet things, and this kid was trying to hail a cab for me.
Of course, I felt guilty. So I tried to hail a cab too. But each and every fucking cab that passed by already had a passenger in it. It sucked so fucking much. I was wet, and sick, and water was getting in my eyes, and I couldn't see clearly, and the air -- OH, GEEZ, THE AIR -- could seriously be seen as this weird white sort of mist -- I guess the rain was just that strong.
I was so happy when this cab finally stopped. The driver had obviously noticed the kid first, but he must've figured that it was only one of those "Kids Who Hail Cabs for Other People" types, so he stopped over at me. I got in with some difficulty and almost tried to close my umbrella while I was outside the cab, but then common sense got the better of me, and so I got inside first. I was seated already, but the door was still open, and I was still closing my umbrella. When I was through, I was just about to get the door, but then the kid got to it first. He kind of just nodded, and closed the door. I was saying "lamat jud, ha" over and over again, and the kid just fucking nodded. Like he didn't even ASK for any payment -- or hold his hand out at the very least. He just nodded and closed the damn door, shirt over his head, frail body shivering like mad.
It was insane.
And I was so guilty.
Jeez.