#004
If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world. -Francis Bacon
There are now more than 7 Billion people on Earth. And we're able to meet or encounter at least a percentage of them from that figure. The simple way of going to school or work, buying some stuff in the store or even just walking along the busy streets and sides of the world enables to see a bunch of people doing their personal things for living. We may know some of them but majority were just strangers that we happen to see each day in our lives.
If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world. -Francis Bacon
There are now more than 7 Billion people on Earth. And we're able to meet or encounter at least a percentage of them from that figure. The simple way of going to school or work, buying some stuff in the store or even just walking along the busy streets and sides of the world enables to see a bunch of people doing their personal things for living. We may know some of them but majority were just strangers that we happen to see each day in our lives.
Nowadays, most of us believe that
it is really hard to trust others especially strangers. That’s why we all grow up hearing the
dialogue “Don’t talk to strangers.” from our parents. We may not ignore the
fact that in this world there are really some people who are taking advantage
on someone’s kindness, despite of the good things shown to them; these people
still manages to do something bad in return. But we’re not talking in general
here. Because on the other side there are those people who are kind enough even
with strangers without any expectations of returning the favor to them. We may consider this as their "good deed of the day."
One day, two of my friends and I
decided to go on a sort of Manila Trip. I mean, we visited National Museum,
Luneta Park and National Library which are all located in Manila. It was really
a day I can consider as one of the most memorable in my life. It was a simply
amazing tour, the experience of history and arts inside the museum, the
nostalgic feeling of childhood in Luneta, and the memories of our thesis days
at the library. Another thing that amazed me that day is the fact that we’re
able to meet some random people. It was really unexpected yet so heart whelming
at the end of the day.
I’ll give you a glimpse about our
encounter to some “strangers” that day. First is this funny jitney (jeep in
Filipino) driver who took us from Avenida to the National Museum. While on our
way he had some small conversation with us, asking why we are going to the
museum, what are the things we can see there and so on. He was also talking to
the other student beside him in the front seat, when the girl boarded off the
jitney he told her that she should study hard and try to lose some weight for
she may not have any suitors in the future (that’s kinda mean and funny at the
same time.) And turning back again to us, he keeps on asking random questions
until we told him that we’re also students who are about to graduate after a
couple of months (cross-fingers). His reaction really hit me because he seems
so happy for us as if we know him that long. He even did some air punch while
driving (good thing we haven’t gone to any accident because of that) which
shows his enthusiasm about what we just told him. We took off the jitney
smiling and really amazed about that funny jitney driver.
 |
| National Museum |
Next is this Korean couple we’ve
met while we’re on our way from National Museum to Luneta Park. They are Korean
tourists visiting the country for the first time; they just came from Intramuros
before they approach us asking for directions going to Luneta. We told them
that they could follow us because we’re also going there. We had some
conversation during our long walk from the museum up to Luneta, and from Luneta
to Kalaw. They’re quite tired from all of the tour they have since that
morning, so they asked us where the nearest Jollibee (food chain) in the area
is, for they want to try eating there because it was suggested in their travel
guide. My friend and I were about to leave them after we brought them to
Jollibee, but they insisted that we should come inside and join them in their
(late) lunch. We continue exchanging conversations with them (but mostly it was
the husband who is communicating with us) until we found out that he was a
professor in South Korea. We just notice that because he kept on asking us if
we are studying in Manila University, though we’re telling him that we are
students from Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He also asks about the
class schedule here in the Philippines, so I think that he is quite doing some
comparison between the class schedules of two countries. May be we stayed like that
for less than an hour on Jollibee because we keep on talking and asking
questions on each other, it really feels good to satisfy your curiosity about
other races at first hand. And after a long chit-chat we took some pictures
with them as souvenirs and even tried to hire a cab that would take them to
their next destination. Before they rode off the cab, the wife took out her
gadget and asks for a picture (we’re actually on the sidewalk that time), after
some shots she shows the picture she had taken and keep on scrolling her gadget,
at first we thought that she is just showing the pictures she had taken earlier
from their tour, until she stops on a certain picture that shows a stolen shot
of me and my classmate when we’re walking ahead of them at Luneta. It was
really sweet of her as she shows that picture to us, she was smiling from ear
to ear which I interpret that she is also happy meeting us. I was actually can’t get over from that
meeting with them. It feels so heart whelming that I still find myself smiling even on my way home that day.
 |
| that's me and my classmate and the two Korean tourist we've met that day. it was really a great experience meeting people like them. Thank you for being nice and generous to us. Hope you'd enjoy our company and also your stay in the Philippines. Wishing to see you again someday! gamsahabnida!! |
Last are these staffs from the
Multimedia Section of the National Library of the Philippines. Our main goal
for that day was actually to do some research at the library for our project
but since that little tour with those Korean took most of our time, we ended rushing
things up at the library. Most of the materials we found at the library are
located at the multimedia section, because those materials are quite old so it
was secured on a film and could only be viewed by means of a machine showed below.
 |
The two ladies assigned at the
said section were very accommodating to us. They even suggested other materials
that are related to our topics so we could have something more to add for our
research. Since there’s only a specified time in which they allow printing and
further research, the ladies reminded us to list down the pages we would like
to have in print and just get back the next Monday to pick up the materials. Maybe
we’re still overwhelmed from the Korean encounter that’s why we find these
ladies and their actions towards us overwhelming also.
To sum that day up, it was really
special, I feel so overwhelmed and happy. There’s a genuine smile on my face
until I got home. The whole experience was new to me. I mean, as much as
possible I try to avoid strangers especially when I am alone on the streets, but
that day was different. You have this feeling of satisfaction after. Some sort
of realization also struck me as I wrote this down. Sometimes it is not really bad to “talk to
strangers.” We just have to be cautious every time for the sake of our safety. Life
is simple. It is just us that make things complicated at times, we may even
find happiness in random people we meet and experiences that comes in a much
unexpected way. A stranger as defined by Merriam-Webster is someone who you
have not met before or do not know. But come to think of it, at some point we’re
not totally strangers with each other, because there are some things in life
that we may have in common. Maybe we’re both sharing the same belief, listen to
the same bands, used the same products, and idolized the same celebrity and
other things that we may talk about if chance permitted to do so.
©area2013
