The kindness of (oblivious) strangers

(excerpt from my journal entry dated November 17, 2011, a Thursday)

Amoy adobo.

Andito ako ngayon sa pantry ng ____, at habang nagsusulat ako, may kasabay akong kumakain ng adobo at kanin. Hmm. Sarap. Pero hindi na kasi ako ganun kadali matakam sa masasarap na pagkain e. I mean since nag-Herbalife ako, kahit dumaan ako sa mga nag-iihaw ng barbecue, etc.—wa epek. Pwede pa siguro kung bago sa panlasa ko yung pagkaing nasa harap ko. I mean kung food yun na hindi ko pa natitikman. I’m sure I’d be curious. And if it happens that I ate a bit and found that I like it, I’d probably stuff myself up, since, syempre, minsan lang ako makakain nang ganun, so why not make the most of it, right?

Ansarap magsulat pag sobrang tahimik ang paligid and walang kaingay-ingay. By ingay, I mean yung ingay na indicative ng presence of “life”—or basically “interesting” things—things that catch your interest (duh!).

So, may kasama ako ngayon dito, kumakain sya ng adobo. Wouldn’t that constitute as noise? For me, no. Kasi, yun nga, hindi naman ako interested sa ginagawa niya.

Second, mag-isa lang siyang kumakain. I can easily isolate him from my frame of interest (you know, turn him into a “nonliving thing”) at the moment. Unless of course, dalawa silang kumakain and nagsimula silang mag-converse. This conversation could then catch my interest (become “noise” to me) since what they’re talking about would most probably be something new to me (despite the familiarity of the shared experiences of the human race). For example, let’s say they started talking about a colleague who died. As much as death is a common experience, still it would be distracting to me because it would still be something “new” since the unknown elements (the who, what, where, when, why and how factors) need to be filled in. In short, we’re naturally chismosos/chismosas, and man, this is getting long winded. Ahehe.

Third. I don’t think the person with me at the table would strike up a conversation with me at anytime. He can see I’m busy writing, and it’s predictable each of us would mind his own business. I mean, I’m more interested in my writing, and he’s more interested in his eating, why bother one another, right? In other words, his potential to distract me is improbable. He is not a threat, sabi nga sa military.

Fourth, and this is the coup de grace. I don’t know him, he doesn’t know me. We’re strangers to each other. Duh! Ahehe.

See how much nonsense there is in this world without seeming nonsensical? I suspect there’s so many public personalities out there (politicians, for example) who are well adept at the same thing. Ugh! I am laughing right now. I can’t help myself. Umalis na yung kasabay ko sa mesa, and he doesn’t see that I’m laughing all by myself. But even if he’s still around, I don’t think I’d even bother with what he would think upon seeing me laugh. I think he’d be tactful enough not to voice out his…err...findings? Ahehe.

That’s the advantage of being around strangers. You can dismiss them from your frame of concern and move on with your life, and they can do the same to you. That’s the kindness of strangers turning their backs on you.

Man, are we giddy today or what? Journal writing is so liberating. Many times people have found me weird talking all by myself. I think that’s real freedom. Sabi nga ng isang napanood ko, real freedom daw yun, when you can think aloud and not care about what others would think or say about you. Hehe. Yeah! I feel great!