the irony of life

                     People never seem to be content with whatever they have. The irony of life. The poor wants to be rich, and the rich still wants to be multi gazillionaires. I don't get the point. Why are there still people who want to have more despite the abundance they're already experiencing first hand? Just a moment ago I was riding a jeepney on my way home from the downtown area of Cebu. I had to purchase fur clothing from a cheaper store for a school play, although the price did cost me a week's allowance, still it was cheaper compared to the doubled up prices of other stores. So there I was, riding a jeepney, thinking of the so many things I could have bought with the money I just spent a few moments earlier. I thought to myself of the pumps I could have purchased at a cheaper price, or a nice dress perhaps. While thinking of those things, an old woman carrying a half empty bucket of fish suddenly stepped inside the jeepney and sat next to me. Oh the horror! The odor of the fish made me want to puke. It was as if I was inhaling the shit, which I was by the way. The situation was beginning to suffocate me, when a sudden thought went through my mind --- Jesus. What would Jesus have done? What would he have felt if an old woman carrying smelly fish sat next to him? Would He be disgusted like I was, or would He have felt mercy? Right then I was embarrassed by what I felt. I was being a hypocrite. Sharing the good news and all to my friends,  trying to be a good testimony to others. When in fact I cringe at the thought of having a fish vendor for a seatmate on a jeepney ride home. Then I began to feel ashamed and began to apologize to God. I had no right to judge, I was even blessed with a good life. But look at the life I was living. I always complain. I complain when I don't like the food on the table, I complain about my allowance, I complain that life is unfair, that I was not living the life I deserved, I complain on almost everything life has to offer me. And there she was, a woman whose very old, past her retirement age even, carrying a small half-empty bucket of fish riding a jeepney home on a rush hour-- which is not common for every grandma. My grandmother, a bit younger than her, only stayed at home and watched TV, she would order the maid every now and then if she needed something, everyday she was busy in her little sari-sari store which helped her make an income aside from the pension she receives on her own and her late husbands' pension. Then there were other grandmas who would go to a salon twice a month for their appointments, who would go shopping at heart's desire. There were those grandmas and there was her-- the old, hardworking, tired lady who wakes up early in the morning everyday to sell small fish at the market and go home at night earning half the usual.

-- Another post from two years ago.