Started out as a normal day…
An appointment to the dentist (not mine, I just tagged along…)
Then went on to buy some groceries…then went home…
We had to wait outside because we don’t have the keys. While waiting, an old man who turned to be a neighbor walked over to where we were standing and started chatting. In the span of less than an hour, we knew his life story and he knew ours (or at least the part we were happy to share). Amazing how people learn from each other if only they try to reach out…
We made a friend.
Anyways, the keys and the people who got them arrived and we went inside, dumped the groceries, and went out again. Guess where we were going? Oh yeah, you got it wrong! We’re not going there *wink*
We’re going shopping! Shopping at the ukay-ukay!
I was looking for a knapsack good enough for mountain climbing. My sister had been bugging me to buy her knapsack for the past week so off we (my friend and I) go to the ukay-ukay!
The knapsacks were like so expensive! The price range was Php 800-1,200, but I only have a Php 500 budget! But I am such a finder of good deals (hehe, ego boost!), I was able to find a knapsack which was really nice and really cheap (less than half price of the cheapest of the earlier ones we found). I tried to haggle with the guy but man, he was not so kind to give me the knapsack for Php 300! Oh well, come to think of it, Php 350 was still a very good deal if I may say so myself… But the haggling part was fun and we kind of made friends with the guy. When we passed by his stall on our way home, he bade us good night and safe trip. Or maybe he was just doing customer service (hahaha!) I want to think it’s the former though…
Another one (although doubtful).
Anyways, my friend was hungry and she was craving for some vegetables so we went about looking for turo-turo with some good-looking vegetable dish. We found a good one and the girl at the turo-turo was nice, friendly and very accommodating (again, good customer service, hehe). Really friendly that she asked for my mobile number but I wasn’t as friendly to give it to her. We should come back, she said, to try their “tsokolate at puto maya”. And I think we will come back…
So that was the third friend we made (or maybe again just good customer service, haha).
The point of the whole thing is – when you decide to stop and talk to a stranger, he or she will not just be a stranger anymore but a face with a name and a personality – a human being.
In these busy lives we choose for ourselves, we also have the choice to reach out to other people, get to know them and achieve a more meaningful life.
Life is such a precious thing that living it alone, in pursuit of things that seem to get out of reach every time you try to grasp them, is such a waste!
Celebrate life! Celebrate friendship!
