Platonic Affection

An amusing thing about my friends and I is that we’re never affectionate.

I know how some girls frequently say “I love you” to their girl friends, plus give them long hugs and some sweet words. They may kid around every once in a while, but you could still feel that atmosphere of love around them.

This applies minimally to my clique. Since we’re birds of a feather, it translates to one thing: we’re very palengkera. We’re loud, barbaric, shameless, and a tad bit uncivilized (which, occasionally, makes me very embarrassed to be with them). We laugh all the time, and we’re very sneaky and street-smart. You may think I’m exaggerating - yes, we do conform to society’s rules, but we put a twist to it. Which, as I pointed out, makes us a bit uncivilized.

You may sense an air of affection around us - but not without sensing the air of clownishness first. See, we won’t hug one another unless it’s time to go home, and we rarely say “I love you” to one another. Both things, if done at random moments, make us laugh and cringe. We started out as a manly group of girls, and we’re still that bro towards one another.

But it’s pretty obvious that they’re going to be my friends for life.

Photo by Tine Cruz.

Votes for the future

A while ago, my parents and I went to the basketball court 3 blocks away so that we could vote. At 8 AM, the court was already filled with people waiting to get a ballot; I thought we were going to take long, but in an hour, my parents and I were done - all from casting our votes, to having an indelible ink put on our right point finger.

I heard in a TV show that we Filipinos are amongst the most suspicious when it comes to the elections. And why wouldn't we be, when over the past century, we have been cheated on over and over again? Yup, I have a nagging fear that something might not work out, and that we wouldn't get honest results. But as romantic as it may sound, I believe that everything happens for a reason. Whatever results this elections would bring, it I think would be the best outcome - maybe not for the present, but definitely for the future.

The next 6 years of my life are crucial - it's when I graduate, get a job, and achieve my dreams of travelling and trying out everything there is out there. The government plays a part in helping me do so, as the country's economic status affects how I'm going to live everyday for the next 6 years. I just hope that, if ever things wouldn't progress that much in this near future, it will be by the time I have children. So that they may enjoy a good life.