Musings during taxi rides

THE yellow Maligaya taxi that has an LCD screen, there are two short films that are repeatedly played – one is of those small birds on a telephone wire picking on a big blue bird. The second one is the devil who is appealing his case.

Both featured villains.

The small birds and the angel.

The small birds, as those who have been watching Pixar short films, were pecking on the feet of the big bird so as to dislodge it from the wire, not realizing that they too are on the wire. Thus, when big bird fell, the wire snapped up, throwing the flock of small birds right up the air, shaking them so hard, they lost all their feathers. Good for you, we cheer. Just a trivia, the first four small birds that landed on the power
line are named Bully, Chipper, Snob and Neurotic.

The second short film about the devil, the angel deviously denied the appeal but apparently did so sans heaven’s get-go, the angel fell from the cloud it was standing on. Too fat with a pair of small wings, the angel can hardly and appealed to the devil to help him.

The devil did, but instead of thanking the devil, the angel pushed the iron ball tied to the devil’s leg off the ledge that they were on.

Down went devil… and… then he flew back up again, losing his dark reddish
complexion and growing a pair of white wings as the pearly gates opened and welcomed him. Behind him, angel loses his wing and grows a pair of horns.

In a few seconds, we are reminded of the evils of man. It can be as catty as a senior journalist who instead of taking young reporters under his wing is making life a hell for these reporters, bullying them as if to remind everyone that he’s been there longer than the young ones. It can be as cloaked in conspiracy of “high stakes and desperate men” as maybe… Rico Puno and the mysterious documents he wanted to have his hands on. Or it can be as unbelievable as how the issue of Senator Vicente Sotto III’s plagiarized speech is turning out to be.

Evil resides in men, it seems and will always be there.

It is up to the individual man to dispel this evil and choose to do good.

Many fail, many more will fail.

For sure, many who watch the short films that are played over and over again inside these yellow taxis even laughed at the antics of the small birds and the deviousness of the fat angel. We delight in evil acts; there is that sense of power given the chance to look down on poor unfortunate souls.

But as many who have extended a hand to those in need would know, there is a deeper sense of power in seeing the gratitude on the faces of those who have been helped. But unlike the sense of power over devious ways, it is not something that elicits loud taunting guffaws but rather a smile that emanates from the heart.

Sometimes, however, we prefer reeling feel of a guffaw, and so senior journalist bullies as he always does and Senator Sotto refuses to admit that he did wrong.