By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
The sight I saw when walking back home this past week was truly a sorry one. Everyone was drenched, both adults and students were equally miserable looking, and I can’t blame them. Even I, as a way to resist against the cold wind and air put on a bitter face. Just imagine having your shoes being drenched again, and water seeping into your socks, after the same thing just happened a few days ago. I feel even more sorry for the younger students who only have limited sets of uniform. Because with how strong the rains were these past few days, I don’t think anyone has gone home completely dry and in a good mood.
I also tried taking refuge at several malls together with many wet and tired people but when the rain seems like it will keep on going forever you are ultimately left with a choice. Whether you stay put or push through and try your luck.
I remember thinking as I was walking under an almost typhoon-level rain just to take one step. The feeling of cold water seeping into your body, your feet hurting from your socks being drenched, each step was truly an ugly experience. But each step forward meant the feeling of a warm bed got closer and that was a great reward for moving each leg forward continuously stepping on puddle after puddle.
This is a time to think carefully before going outside. Back then, packing slippers inside the bag was the go-to method in saving your expensive black shoes from water damage and it seems the old methods must be recycled once again and remember what we had learned from the several storms we have already lived through.
Double-checking is a value that had been ingrained in me since I was young. Double check your bag, double check your uniform, your assignments, having a worrywart for a mother forces you to remember these things. Now, double-checking your umbrella is a simple act that can save you tons of stress down the line and perhaps can even rescue your clothes from being utterly drenched. Though the act of double-checking may seem trivial and annoying, you can be surprised to see how much people still forget their umbrellas in the same week where an LPA was spotted nearby.
Sometimes it is the smallest things, the simple acts we easily forget that results in the most frustrating moments. Like waiting in school for hours, all because you forgot your umbrella or going back to your house after a jeepney with open seats is already nearby.
But if we keep our fundamentals, the basics we have been taught as children, then life becomes a bit smoother and in these times of rain and discomfort, then the perhaps it is the basics that can make the situation a bit more bearable. **
