LOST IN MORE THAN TRANSLATION

Filipinos Kill the Time

Time is gold. It has never been silver nor bronze. It has always been gold. That is how people before value every ticking seconds of time. The absence of accurate and fast technology to tell time could have been a cause why people of the olden times put so much premium on time. Today, the value of time is as golden as before. Ride an airplane that brings you to your destination late, and you may miss great business opportunities. A doctor on the operating table always will say that every second counts for the patient under a knife. But wait...! Do not ever mention time to most government officials. Most of them with time suffer mast cell overload with histamines.

I did not know that some important government officials and politicians would grace the opening of the Agri-Business Fair situated in front of UV. Our students were there, I thought, to look and see what the fair was all about. When I walked out the gate, I saw that they were still outside. They were not allowed to get inside because the ribbon has not been cut yet - the fair has not been declared open to public. But how long they have been standing outside, I did not bother check the time. The government official to cut the ribbon has not arrived on time (read as late). I heard that the fair was supposed to open at 9a.m. Sadly, time has never been gold at all this morning. I want to be fair though. Maybe the government officials to cut the ribbon had something more important to do than manipulate a pair of scissors to cut a rafia declaring the key chains inside to be devoured by the all-eager grade school pupils.

Well, what is new? I was asked to be one of the masters of ceremony in a fiesta event way back time. The program was scheduled to start at 9p.m. We were able to sing the national anthem at past 12 midnight. Sorely, the invited guests to crown the less-happier queen started his campaign trail inside the house of the mayor. I remembered to be wearing a blue suit then. I thought it turned black with sweat waiting for the old politicians to crawl their way to the cultural complex. Why invite politicians from outside town to grace affairs that our people have labored so much to perfect? They were a shining and golden example of Filipino time - the time that does not just stand still but kill. I was really lost in time.