Lizada: Four pineapples

Monday, December 26, 2011

I WAS thinking of writing a Christmas article for my column. I wanted to write something really special but I found it a little difficult in doing so. I have written so many Christmas articles before and I guess somehow your ideas about Christmas can tire out.

You end up saying the same things every year, every Christmas. It was even more difficult because of the tragedies brought about by the typhoon so as it is I waited. (I have learned that if you cannot write, do not) I knew that somehow my Christmas article would come along in the most unexpected way. And it did.

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You see my wife Chona has been eating pineapples. She eats them with gusto and she eats them for health. Every week she goes to two of her suki to buy three pineapples, only three.

Why? Beats me. One of her suki is more of the "sosyal" fruit stands where pineapples are not the only fruits sold. There are solo papayas and bananas as well. She buys her pineapples there because they are sweet. However there are days when that fruit stand runs out of fruits. So her other suki comes in.

Her other suki is the direct opposite of the sosyal fruit stand. This young man, who actually looks like he was some member of some gang, sells only pineapples from a cariton. He parks outside a mall and there he sells his pineapples. He knows Chona already because Chona only orders three pineapples per visit. That is true for both her suki.

A few days ago we went to the fruit stand. It was closed. The fruits were all gone and done. So we went to the cariton guy. As we were still going to the grocery we waved to this young man. He understood and he flashed the three fingers. We laughed and said we would be back.

After doing the grocery we drove to his cariton. When he saw us he picked up the plastic bag and ran towards the car. He handed the bag and we saw four pineapples. Thinking it was a mistake we said we just wanted three. He smiled and said, "pamasko ko sa inyo."

We smiled. Funny how we are taught lessons. Funny how angels (he could be an angel for all we know) can guide us. In these stress filled hectic frantic times wherein we give and forget why, here was a young man in shorts and who obviously needed to sell all his pineapples, here was a young man who reminded us (at least to Chona and myself) the value of true giving.

We may buy the most expensive gifts yet we may miss the whole point of giving. Some give because they need to. Some give with conditions attached, whether overt or not. Others give so they may get something in return. Still others supposedly give to ease their consciences.

True giving is never of the mind. True giving is not rational. True giving after all comes from the heart and the heart is where we find the answers. We give because we want to not because have to.

We give because we are people who like to share and not people who must share. We give because it is our true nature to do so. We give without fanfare, pretensions, conditions or hypocrisy. When we give we are Apostles and not Pharisees. That young man who gave shared everything. How many of us can really do that?

I have never understood why Chona insists on three pineapples. That I cannot understand. But four pineapples, that I can understand.