Soul Doctor

The first time I was in Marikina was June 19, 2007.
I went there to promote Powerchess since I heard people there were very sports minded. It was just a side trip though. I planned to play Powerchess with GM Eugene Torre that time. We were scheduled to meet in the evening at the Richmonde hotel in Ortigas.
So I have time to visit Marikina that day. I took a jeepney from a terminal in Farmers Cubao to Marikina.

As soon as I got there I was really impressed.
It was clean as a church.
You could not find a piece of candy wrapper or ice water plastic in the road side.
No cigarette butts anywhere as you normally see everywhere else.
The first few minutes i wanted to live there when I get old.
I was hungry so I looked for a carenderia.
I ordered a pancit palabok.
The palabok was ordinay.
Not much spiciness, and no life in the flavor.

I noticed that people there were cold.
They do not greet each other even if you knew they knew each other.
Business were noticeably slow compared to other places like Cebu.

As I entered their sports center, I was amazed how big it is.
It was ten times as big as the Cebu City Sports Center in Abellana school.
Parents bring their children there. They all looked very competitive, children and parents. Still they are colder compared to Cebuanos.
I introduced powerchess there for an hour.

When I went out of the sports center, I meet a family walking towards me.
Though there were other people there too.
But this family caught my attention.
An older woman was laughing
and seems to be throwing a joke at a young couple and their child.
Suddenly the younger woman screamed at her mother, hit her in the forearm and started cursing her.
What was odd was that the crowd acted like it was natural.
I was the only one standing there watching while people just pass around them like nothing happened.
In my mind, I wonder if people there are that cold. So cold that they don't care what other people do as long as they are not violating their laws or city ordinances.

I was riding the jeep back for cubao when we passed a residence there where a helper was watering the plants with a water hose.
Soon a lady came out of the house and slap the poor girl in the face and scolded her for using the hose. Again, I noticed that the passengers are not reacting to the scene. They act like it was a normal thing to do-- slapping a helper.
It was then that I realized that I do not want to live in that place anymore.
I think people there are so preoccupied with cleaning their surroundings that they forget to be human.
The government there is very strict that they lost their hearts in the process.
I pity the people living there.

Now after Ondoy.
You could see that they do not help each other like Cebuanos do.
Its funny what nature did to the cleanest city in the country.

I still believe that relationships with other people is much more important than cleanliness.