unang pagkakataon

sa unang pagkakataon, nag-walk out ako. and after a minute or two, napa-isip ako kung tama ba talaga ginawa ko. well, actually, i’m more concerned about my safety rather than the act itself. ganito kasi yun…

last night, i was supposed to go home already but time got extended because of an unexpected visitor. so to be hospitable, i stayed in the office and went home hungry. and i mean really hungry. plus i had a little not-so-nice episode with someone while in the office so i was quite impatient and i guess kinulang ako ng tulog. 

so kulang sa tulog + hungry+ bad experience = disaster waiting to happen. 

i went to this little carinderia i frequent near the corner of Katipunan and Aurora. the owners and the usual people i saw weren’t there. the other ’employees’ were manning the counter. i just couldn’t take how the ‘cashier’ was handling things. he had earphones on and didn’t seem mindful of the customers waiting. i tried to be patient and waited for my turn to get their attention. he had an ‘assistant’ who was, i guess, too busy doing other stuff other than minding the customers that it was getting to be really annoying. 

finally, my turn came. no one else was ordering. i told manang, “1 kanin tsaka po ito,” pointing at the ulam. she nodded and i went to the table, waiting to be served. after a little while, i didn’t experience the usual service i was getting whenever i came there. it used to be this way: i would say my order, take a seat, in less than 30 secs, my rice came with some hot soup and then followed by the viand i wanted. this time, it was taking longer than usual. too long for the hungry and impatient, tired slave in me. 

after maybe noticing me seated on the table, the ‘cashier’ asked, “kuya ano’ng ulam mo?” and that may have just triggered it… i just had to pick up my bag and umbrella and said, “hindi, huwag na lang” and went out.

maybe if i weren’t as tired or as hungry, i could’ve tolerated the delay. but alas, i wasn’t. sobrang gutom na ako nun. and i didn’t really have the patience or generosity of letting them ‘ignore’ me at first and leave them satisfied for serving me ‘well’. 

i got in the jeep going and when i sat down, thought about it a little and feld a little uneasy. i frequent the area. there’s a kwek-kwek stand right next to the carinderia and other street food that satisfy my cravings. and if they see me there, what could possibly happen? i was more concerned about their “paghihiganti”. but how would that be? would they ignore me again if and when i decide to eat at their place in the near future? would they serve me bad food or do some of those horrible things caught in CCTVs done by chefs on guests’ food? a really terrifying thought… 

so now, as i’m about to leave the office, i’m trying to psych myself out that everything will be OK when i pass by later. but do you think i should get a haircut first to disguise myself? 😛