Noemi Fetalvero
Two empty bottles

THE “high fives” of our lives—some of which are considered the old fashioned concerns. Old as it may seem these are the most authentic expression of kindness and thoughtfulness that have now become to some degree socially irrelevant issues.

Among these old fashioned concerns include giving up of a bus seat to accommodate an elderly; opening of a door for a handicapped man on a wheelchair; lost and found items finding their way to the rightful owner; and I would venture to add simple road courtesies. Young adults, whose thumbs are on the cellular keys, get busy texting messages so that they become oblivious to what is going on around them. Will they pause to open a door for a handicap?

Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy

We observe the three o’clock prayer to the Divine Mercy and the Angelus at six in the evening and yet when Sen. Noynoy Aquino declared that he was going on a retreat to invoke the spiritual guidance of the Holy Spirit, some sectors say that the move was a political gimmick.

Has it become old fashion to seek for Divine assistance? Have you ever entered a friend’s house and felt like an intruder because the children do not even bother to acknowledge your presence. What ever happened to Good Conduct and Right Manners that were supposed to be taught in school? Beso-beso perhaps is old fashioned, but a simple greeting is expected.

Worth noting down is GMA 7’s Kapuso Foundation continuous update of donations that kept pouring in as assistance to the flood victims. It surely deserves a high-five not only for its efforts but for its genuine reach-out program to the remotest barangay that remained flooded even after weeks of Ondoy’s wrath. The Filipino people are still facing the mystery behind the calamity funds that came from the various foreign countries coursed through the Philippine Government. Has it become old fashioned as well to report or give us an update on how much exactly have we received in foreign aid and how has it been disposed?

“Honesty is the best policy” may be old fashioned, but it has been time tested and proven to be the best approach where integrity is at stake.