The comfort of strangers
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo
ON the bus bound for Pangasinan to attend an important event, I sat beside a woman who, among other things started telling me about her life. When we encountered a flooded portion in Bulacan, she engaged me in a conversation:
“Mga corrupt kasi nasa gobyerno! Ako nagtitiyaga umuuwi sa gitna ng baha, sila naninirahang marangya sa malalaking bahay at ang daming mga kotse, parang Discaya lang ang peg! “
“Sino-sino ba binoto mo?”
“Ah, basta. Sa susunod na halalan, di ko na sila bobotohan!
“SI Lacson, iboboto mo? Magaling siya, in-expose niya ang corruption sa flood control.”
“Naku! Kasama siya sa hindi ko iboboto. Nagtago yan sa bayan namin ng tatlong buwan dahil may ninakaw.”
“Huh? Si Ping Lacson? Di yan nagtatago at isa siya sa mga senador na mahusay sa trabaho.”
The population is beginning to relate the impact of corruption in their daily lives, but still can’t distinguish fact from fake news. Or she does not read/listen to the news at all. Or her comprehension and analytical skills were not honed at school, given the kind of education and learning our formative institutions are known to deliver. After a lengthy conversation on the impact of flooding in her hometown in Bulacan, she suddenly shifted to her personal life.
“Single mom po ako. Tatlo anak ko. One is in college now, the two others are in high school. My husband works in Taiwan but he has not given us support for more than ten years. I have no communication with him.”
“How do you support your children?”
“Tinutulungan po ako ng kaibigan kong councilor in Bulacan, kanya ang tuition fees. My daily sustenance comes from my own sari-sari store. Ang problema ko po Ma’am, his children think we are having an affair, kaya they worked out that he and his wife will now join his children in Europe. Papano po kaya yun, baka di ko kayanin.”
She reached her destination before I could answer her. I wondered how people can confide personal matters to a total stranger in such a chance encounter. This is not the first time it happened to me and my sister. While sitting at the lobby of Celandine, a man overheard us speaking in Ilocano. He said he was waiting for his kids who were in the swimming pool. Then he suddenly told us: “Ang asawa ko po ay principal sa isang public school. I am a radiologist at a dental lab. Nabuntis ko po siya kaya ko pinakasalan. Pero may papakasalan po sana ako na ngtatrabaho sa Saudi, kaso natukso po ako. Nagmamahalan po kami hanggang ngayon. Ngayon po, umuwi siya, I booked her for staycation in another floor. Gusto na po niya sumama ako sa kanya sa Saudi. Ano po ang gagawin ko?”
My sister, overhearing the conversation, exclaimed, “Ahh, that’s so fucked up! Find a solution considering the welfare of your children!”
I remember Dwight Penson, a friend who related to me that on a bus to Baguio City, a woman shared her personal life throughout the duration of the trip. This is a curiosity for me, how people seem to entrust themselves to total strangers, often, without leaving their names.
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