Inconsistencies in this World
Posted on Monday, 30 May 2016
Inconsistencies in this World
By Apolinario Villalobos
Life is full of inconsistencies….
One day when I hitched a ride with a lawyer
friend, he intentionally broke a traffic rule by beating the red light. When I
asked him why he did it, he told me that there was no traffic enforcer
anyway…and, he is a LAWyer!
When I visited another friend who I know is
an advocate of alternative herbal medicine, I heard her remind the caregiver of
her mother about her anti-biotic that should be changed to another brand,
obviously, a stronger one for an eighty-three year old. She learned about the
strong anti-biotic from her internet browsing. When I reminded her about her
advocacy and mentioned garlic as a strong natural anti-biotic, she told me that
her mother does not like its taste. What worried me is that my friend is
deciding on her own about the synthetic anti-biotic as a “preventive” drug for
her aging mother! This friend keeps several boxes of apple cider vinegar at
home just in case the Bragg family stops making the expensive medicinal
concoction from the apple juice. If she is in the charitable mood, she gives me
a bottle or two to take home.
Another friend who is an advocate of family
discipline sends his 12-year son out to buy his local rhum at a corner store.
He also sends the same son to the kitchen to light his cigarette in the gas range
burner, thereby, making the poor boy make the necessary initial puffs to keep
it lighted until he has handed it “safely” to his father. And, my friend brags
to us, his friends that no son of his would ever have a taste of alcohol or
have even just a single puff of cigarette while he is alive!
Then, another friend who tries to project a
classy image by boasting about his vegetarian diet hates local vegetables,
preferring only western ones such as spinach, lettuce, baby carrots, sweet
onions, etc., and never ever local vegetables such as, “saluyot”, “kangkong”,
“alogbate”, “upo”, etc. He brags about his preference for “salads” with plenty
of strips of bologna, spam, German sausages, or chicken, and sprinkled with his
favorite Italian dressing!...and, he is a vegetarian!
Many years ago, when a big religious sect
which is a breakaway from the Catholic fold, still held their prayer rallies at
Luneta park, I was brought by a friend to one such rally, to introduce me to
their kind of music which I really enjoyed, but not the corny preaching of the
supposedly charismatic leader who would enthuse his flock to open and invert
their umbrella to catch the blessings and grace from “heaven”. My friend was a
Bible-quoting guy, obviously, a pro-God in his own way. When we left the area
to take a jeepney at T.M. Kalaw St., we were approached along the way by an
obviously hungry street child with an open upward palm. Without much thought,
he shooed the boy away, as if shooing a pestering fly!
Then, there’s the greatest inconsistency of
all…the advertisement aired over a popular radio station about the “ashitaba”
herbal medicine which the endorsing woman who supposedly got cured said in
Visayan, “ako si….. duna koy almoranas nga maura ug kamatis ka daku, pero
nawala ang akong ALMORANAS sukad nag-inom ko ug ashitaba…kinanlan gyud mag-inom
ta ug ashitaba aron mawala ang atong ALMORANAS”, or to that effect, which as
translated in English is, “ I am…..I have been suffering from a HEMORRHOID as
big as tomato, but it was gone when I took ashitaba…we should take ashitaba so
that our HEMORRHOID will be gone..” After the statement, came the disclaimer
which said, “the ashitaba is not a drug and should not be taken as a medicine
as it cannot cure any ailent”….What happens to the endorsement and the
testimony of the woman who got cured? Why approve the ad for airing if there is
such a bullshit disclaimer? I think something is wrong with the Philippine
government agency that approves ads like the one mentioned….for letting such
mindless inconsistency be heard all over the country as it makes a fool of the
listeners!
Today, every time I am alone and those
mentioned above and many others would creep into my mind, I would just let out
a deep heavy sigh to lighten up my heavy chest while holding on to my sanity,
so as not to cuss. But my big question is: are we living in a world that throbs
with senselessness?
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