Morning in Cardinal

January 10, 2014 Saturday morning

5 am. Nurse removed the IV but I was too sleepy to pay attention.
7 am. I reminded the nurse to prepare our discharge slip ahead of time and to inform the billing.
7 am. Breakfast tray arrived.
7:30. My son ate the lugaw. I got dressed, no ligo-ligo kasi merong putol na buntot ng butiki on the bathroom floor.

8:00 am. Billing clerk called to advise the bill was ready. I went down to pay the bill.
At 8:30 am, there were only a few people paying. My number’s 1228. I noticed the guard was pulling and pulling the retractable Beltrac. The sound and movement annoyed me. After a few minutes, medyo I was already irritated (remember, wala akong tulog kaya medyo may sumpong).

To stop the guard from continuously pulling the Beltrac, To distract him, I asked “Guard, saan ang ginugwardyahan mo, dito ba?”
Guard—- Oo, bakit?
Me——– Wala, tinatanong ko lang.

That was really effective. He stopped pulling the Beltrac.

He really has lots of energy. He was standing there, clearly showing signs of restlessness and boredom. He started doing proactive calls naman. Basta merong dumaan, he would wave his hand “Magbabayad?”
He was presuming that every passersby would be going to the cashier. He couldn’t wait for them to get a number, instead, he pressed the number machine and printed numbers. Sasalubungin nya yung mga naglalakad at bibigyan ng number. Napaka efficient nya.

When I saw the number 1227, I remembered I would use my credit card so I looked inside my bag and searched for my credit card. Biglang I heard him calling me, “Miss, misssssss, 1128, missss, cashier!” I stood up and went to the cashier.

I saw him holding a piece of paper in his hand, standing and waiting for the next customer. Eh medyo konti pa lang ang mga tao. He started flipping that thin and tiny piece of thermal paper and I was so annoyed because it was also making a sound. He noticed I was staring at him, not just staring, ang sama talaga ng tingin ko sa kanya.

He stopped flipping and leaned the left side of his body on the counter. Rested his left elbow on the counter. Abah, sobra talaga syang ma-energy. I saw him flipping naman his lips. He was pulling his nguso ang letting it bounce back. Tapus hihilahin na naman nya. Delikado ito, baka mamaya ibang parte naman ng katawan nya ang hihilahin nya.
This guy is hyper and proactive. Dapat he should be assigned to a job that would require non-stop physical exertion like floor polishing or carpet vacuuming.

Parang I didn’t have the appetite yet to eat, tulog pa mga bulate ko.
Siomai na lang nga.
Tindera——- “Miss, 4 or 3 pieces?”
Mahirap na talaga ang buhay. Baka there will come a time eh, tingi-tingi na ang siomai, isang piraso nga.

Pure buko juice P35

The lack of sleep reflected on my state of mind. I was paranoid of my surroundings. I paid unnecessary attention to the sounds and movements around me.

I heard one of the utility guys making pa-charming to one of the ladies manning either the pizza or hotdog stand. She said “laking sardinas ka”. I wondered what she meant by that. Sardines have replaced galunggong as the poster ulam of poor people. Sardines have also become synonymous to relief goods. Either way, ang perception ay pang mahirap ito.

Laking sardinas could mean mahirap ka lang, puro sardinas ulam nyo. But that’s better than being told mukha kang sardinas. Mas grabe din kung amoy sardinas ka. Mas masakit rin kung sabihin sayo ng babae na yung ano mo eh kasing laki lang ng sardinas. Bad yun. All interpretations have negative connotations. So kung ang pinopormahan mo eh sabihan ka ng laking sardinas, exit ka na agad. Obvious hindi ka nya type. Iba level nya, pang-corned beef ang beauty nya.

I bought a grande size fresh mango juice and a banana bread upon my son’s request.

I stayed in the chapel for a few minutes. I said a little prayer and lighted candles. I could feel the intense emotions inside. Taimtim ang mga panalangin and I also heard some hikbi. That’s so sad.

9:30 I went back to the room. Our neighbor, room 226, was in the hallway playing with her son.
I asked her “anong sakit ng baby mo?” She said slight pneumonia. Worried ako kasi isinasakay nya yung bata dun sa sabitan ng dextrose eh madulas yan at hindi sturdy, tumbahin.

I found this a dangerous game. Baka dumulas sila at masubsob, instead na slight pneumonia lang ang sakit ng baby nya baka ma head injury pa.

10 am the nurse removed the pain reliever drip

High tech na ngayon ang IV, meron ng gadget to accurately regulate the drips. This costs more than a hundred thousand pesos according to the nurse, kaya daw bantay sarado sila pag may aalis at baka dekwatin.