By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
Hoping you do not mind my sharing anew some recent Facebook posts on home affairs. No time to think of something serious this week. My apologies.
STRICT WITH CLEANLINESS AND ORDERLINESS
Florence is one person who could not stand dirt and disorderliness. She is what you call fastidious, a stickler for cleanliness and neatness. The coverage of her fixation with cleanliness extends to my motorcycle rubbing us a lot of times of what they call joy in rides. There is really a clash here because I am not very particular about how the motorcycle looks provided it runs. For so long as I could delay it, I would never bring the motorcycle to the car wash until I could no longer stand the pressure from Florence. When she gives me a sermon on the state of the exterior of the motorcycle, my stock argument would be as follows: “Ti importante tumaray. Uray no nakadaldalus ti motor no saan met makataray awan met laeng.” (The important thing is it runs. Even if it is spotlessly clean if it cannot run, there’s no use.) And that would infuriate her even more.
One time, several years ago, I was forced to bring the motorcycle for washing immediately and against my will because when we were at the gate for the trip to the Appas Elementary School where she used to teach, instead of hopping up the motorcycle, she hailed a tricycle.
NAUGHTY GARY
(With photo of my shoes on a mound of sand)
My dog Gary has this naughty antic of carrying away my foot wear. When I go to houses in the neighborhood, he would follow and bring home one of my slippers. So I take precautions and bring into the houses my slippers and shut the door but there are still times when I do not remember to do that and so I would be going home with just one foot with a slipper. Lately, he also started bringing out one or both of my shoes to the yard at night if I fail to place them in a spot he could not reach when I get home. The trouble with this is if it rains during the night, I could not wear the shoes the next day. Strangely, I go along with Gary’s idea of a joke and do not punish him for doing it. Yes, Gary does not chew at the shoes or slippers — it just transports them to other places.
PROTECTIVE FATHER
Ever since the kids have been travelling on their own when they went to college, I would instruct them not to leave the bus station in the city until the morning light and that if they insist on taking the taxi before daylight, to text me the body and/or plate number of the taxi. Along with the reminder to bring along empty plastic bags just in case they get sick in the bus and throw up, that has always been part of my parting dialogue until it got to the point that Aglaia Marie would at times recite the instructions before I get down to doing it.
When they travel from Manila to other places at night and I learn about it, I text the same reminders. This dawn, Aglaia Marie left for Baguio City. As she was leaving the house, I texted the reminder. After a while, she texted the plate number of the taxi.
Me: Diay ngay nagan ti taxi? (The name of the taxi?)
Aglaia after a while: Hmp. Imbagbagam koma tattay ta innalak pay pati nagan ken address diay driver. Addaakon terminal. (Hmp. You should have told me ahead so I also got the name and address of the taxi driver. I am in the terminal already.)
Me: Diay nagan ti bus ken number bus mo. (The name of the bus and the number of your bus.)
No more answer but I will not bother her anymore as I still have to hear of crews of buses bound for Baguio City from Manila or vice versa stopping on the way to rape, rob or harm passengers in any way.**
