surreal encounter one holy week

while jimmy and i were walking to the hi-way from pipc to wait for a jeep to get me home (he was considering going with me in the hopes that the tapsilogan place near "my" apartment was open) this guy from peoplsupport just cut-in infront of us. ok, you're wondering how we'd know he was from ps; the thing is, he came from the ps office's direction and, this is the dead give-away, he was still wearing his id. he was in a rush to get ahead of us on the sidewalk, he probably figured we were just taking our time, prancing under a beautiful sky at around 3am. seriously, it was a serene night and that would have been a romantic walk but i was jimmy (not that there's anything wrong with jimmy--i love you jim--just that, oh you know, jimmy knows...). i mean, it had the elements of magic: full moon, millions of stars, crisp night breeze and witty conversation. sigh, i miss, oh never mind! ... anyway, i have a story to tell, so let me proceed...

so we got to the hi-way and the ps guy was already there (obviously since he cut in) and we prepared ourselves for a long wait for any passenger jeep to come route since it was good friday. apparently, the ps guy was also waiting for a jeep (we figured as much since he never made an attempt to hail a cab and duh, it was pretty self-explanatory). well we couldn't care any less as we had lotsss of things to talk about: how 1&1 is soooo wonderful and how we love working for 1&1, you get the gist. when after around 30 minutes of standing, all of a sudden, ps guy approached us and i knew, i knew before he could even say a word, that, well, can you guess what he said/did?

hmmm, what possible conclusions could be derived from that scene? of course not! he could not have mugged us, he wouldn't have considered it, jimmy was bigger than him! did he invite us for an orgy, you might think? nope, not even, i looked ratty that time and it was good friday! did he want to apply with 1&1? no, not that either, he didn't know we were from 1&1, we were not wearing our ids. hehe, he walked over to where we were standing and said in this very good-natured way, "excuse me, are you guys waiting for a jeep?" and this was how the convo went:

ps guy (very friendly): excuse me, are you waiting for a jeep?
jimmy (very matter of fact): looks like it
ps guy (still friendly): ummm, i don't think there'll be one coming anytime soon.
dennise (sounding like a bitch as usual): yeah, we pretty much figured that ourselves.
ps guy (still friendly): so both of you live in talamban?
jimmy (still sounding very matter of fact): no
ps guy (confused look in his face but still friendly): ok, so why are you waiting for a jeep that is headed for talamban?
dennise (still sounding bitchy, hey i can't help it!): i live there and he's accompanying me there, also he's in the hopes that the tapsilog place is still open.
ps guy: it was closed a while ago, but maybe it'll be open now
dennise: if it was close earlier today, why would it be open now?
ps guy: i don't know
jimmy: so you live in talamban?
ps guy: no, i live in pitos and taxi fare costs P120 so i was wondering if maybe we could share a cab?
dennise: sure (i mean, he looked harmless and jimmy and i could take him or whatever)
jimmy (talking to me): do you have money with you?
dennise (looking sheepish): no, no money. don't you have money with you? we could stop by my place and i'll pay you there?
jimmy: i have 500 and i doubt if the cab has change for it
ps guy: well, if you have P50, i'm cool with that
jimmy: nope, we don't have that. all i have is P12 worth of change for the jeepney fare and the 500
ps guy: i think i have change for 500 (checks in his wallet) shit, i don't have enough! i'm paul, by the way.
dennise: dennise
jimmy: jimmy
ps guy: so was i interrupting you guys?
dennise: not at all, we were just bitching
ps guy: can i stay around?
jimmy: sure, like what she said, we were just bitching
ps guy: hey, if the tapsilog place is open, i might join you if that's ok?
jimmy: no prob
dennise: we need to hail a cab now, i'm sooo tired
jimmy: denz, i really doubt if they have change for the 500
ps guy: i have change so we use this and check if the tapsilog place is open

(YES, THE CONVERSATION WAS IN ENGLISH!)

so we decided to get a cab and didn't plan further, i mean what if the tapsilog place was close? and of course, just when we have decided to take a taxi, no taxi passed by! paul had some cigarettes with him and just when i thought i could handle some more waiting as long as we had some cigarettes, i could not find my lighter!!! whatthe?! we had to wait for a good 10 minutes before we got a cab. and of course, the only one that passed by was an old kia that didn't have aircon! so we went in and the cab drove onwards and when we were infront of country mall, on a stop light (which was around 2 minutes after we sat in it) a jeep passed by! and when we got to the tapsilog place, it was closed! so we went to my place to get my money and had the cab go to mabolo in the hopes that the tapsilog place was open, and finally, it was open!!! since paul, the ps guy, paid for the cab, i bought him his meal. as we were waiting for the food to be served, we had this get-to-know-you session of sorts, jeez you will not believe it! i knew about his gf who got stabbed in manila and what happened when he went there to visit her (that's for jimmy and me only, very juicy story!) and his business in dipolog, his family affairs, his relationship with his dad, his stupid customers, etc... and all this information in a span of 10 minutes while waiting for our orders to be served!

anyway, we had fun, typical call-center talk: stupid customers, classic lines, funny incidents, rewarding calls and work satisfaction. we finally hailed a cab around 4:30am and even till then, paul still had his id.

so jimmy and i got down from the cab on the hi-way, not directly outside my doorstep, and i waited for jimmy to get a jeep (which was quite instantaneous) and so i walked a couple of meters to my place. say around 5 steps to my door, 5 dogs caught up with me and were barking all over the place! shit, i thought "this is it, i'd finally have the chance to use my healthcard!" and "please oh please, let them not be rabid" and "i'm going to poison these dogs tomorrow!" and i was swinging my sling bag wildly and stomping my feet! it must have been a sight to behold because the dogs left me. and i walked the 5 steps to my door, looked for my key in my bag (it took me a good 2 minutes to find it) and got in. only when i was removing the straps of my sandals did i realize i was shaking...

moral of the story: always let the taxi get inside the compound to avoid dog-attacks!

the end