When one is in a foreign country, you are naturally joyed to see mga kalahi, kasangga, kabarangay, kababayan. I see them as instant katsokaran.
Nabanggit ko kay Ron na tatlo na yung sumama sa aking kumain sa restaurant kung saan nila ako inihatid. Ano kasi, Pinoy Vegans are curious about what I do back home kasi nga bisita lang ako dito, bakit ako nakaka bisita, at naghahanap din sila ng mapagku-kwentuhan ng mga buhay-buhay nila.
Ron told me I don’t have to feed every Filipino Uber driver I meet. He said ang mga mababait daw ang mga nauunang mamatay. Aba hindi naman ako mabait, nagpapanggap lang ako.
Since I ride the Uber several times a day, talagang there’s a big chance of bumping into a Filipino driver, sa dami ba naman ng lahi natin dito sa Las Vegas.
Yesterday I rode with a 67 year old Filipino. He said he owns a 390 square meter lot in Ayala West Grove in Santa Rosa, Laguna and he is planning to build a one story house for his retirement. His 47 year old wife is divorcing him, accusing him of having an affair. He swears to me na wala daw syang bababe and he couldn’t understand why she would accuse him of such. Baka daw gusto ng mag-asawa ng iba.
He was proud of his accomplishments. He voluntarily showed me his huge house from the outside lang naman. I didn’t want to ride in front of his car because his wife might think I am his mistress. His house is very near the Filipino restaurant I was going to so it was convenient to drive by his house. It’s huge and impressive. He said he bought it for $600,000 10 years ago. The price dropped a little during the crisis but it went back up and now it’s $645,000 according to him. He said “hindi pakakawalan ng asawa ko itong bahay, kasi ang ganda”. Okay lang daw sa kanya that she gets it because when she dies, the house will go to his son. I don’t know about that.
He said he has no more intention to get married, “mahirap mag-asawa uli, panibagong adjustment na naman, problema lang yan”. Pero kung ma-inlove daw sya uli, eh baka magbago isip nya. Nay ko po.
He was curious about what I do. Ang sabi sa akin “ikaw, ano naman ang istorya ng buhay mo?” Hahahaha. Eh ano naman ang ikukwento ko sa kanya? Magbasa ka nga ng OMB! He wanted to get my full name. I don’t have a full name. Kita mo super ikli ang names ko, hindi full. Annie Tan – Yee. When I was in elementary and high school I envied the names of my classmates kasi ang hahaba. I thought I had the perfect solution— to marry someone with a long name. Procopio Policarpio Magdamag Pabitinbitin. Eh wala, fate had it that I married someone with an equally short name. Sana man lang nadagdagan ng one letter, like Yeek.
Well, mamang Pinoy Uber driver became curious, so ako naman daw ang magkwento. I told him a one sentence story: na lahat ng kapatid ko nakakalat sa buong America kaya two to 3 times a year ko sila binibisita. Ooops mali. I said the wrong words. I should not have said I visit them frequently because that sparked his curiosity the more. A barrage of questions followed. “Eh di mayaman ka pala sa Pilipinas. Paano ka nakakabili ng ticket?” Yung ticket pa lang mahal na $800 isang round trip”.
“Nasan ang asawa mo? May negosyo ba kayo?” Sabi ko “kung anu-ano lang”. To save myself from his intense questioning I shifted the attention to him. I asked him “eh siguro talagang babaero ka kaya galit yung asawa mo. Lumipat ka na lang sa guest room. At bakit ang bata pa ng asawa mo, asan yung tunay mong asawa?” Ayun, natapos ang kwento nya. He wanted to wait for me while I get some food. Naku, wag na po baka I will end up inviting him to join me for dinner, mas hahaba ang kwento nya. Wag na. He gave me his business card, bukas daw kung may lakad ako ipag-da-drive nya ako. Ay naku, no thank you. Sobra na akong bingi sa araw-araw na istorya ng buhay ng mga Uber drivers, Pinoy, Puti, Itim, Latino, Chinese, etc. Lahat merong malalalim na hugot ng buhay, tulad ko.
