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Friday, August 23, 2002
ESTREMERA: Poise vs. spunk
By Estella E. Estremera
I WAS on a market tour on my dayoff. The National Food Authority (NFA) invited me to see their newly installed exclusive NFA rice retail outlets.
As I had my tomato cocktail soup to cook that night, I dropped by Bangkerohan to buy some celery and green peppers. So, there I was with a small red plastic sando bag with some celery leaves peeking out.
First stop was Agdao and then Bangkerohan. As it was mid-afternoon by the time we visited the two outlets in Bangkerohan, outlet operator Pablo invited us for snacks at Jollibee.
Next stop, Buhangin, where I bought kamansi and labong. As we headed for our vehicle for the next stop, the outlet owner thrust four marang fruits at us.
Next stop, Km. 11 in Sasa. The stall operator Manang Linda insisted that we join her for snacks.
We found ourselves herded underneath the pedestrian overpass into a cramped bakery.
We agreed to just have softdrinks, but Manang Linda wouldn’t allow that and brought in a plateful of “pan.” We each took a piece even as I could still taste the hamburger in my burp. “Para respeto na lang...”
No amount of gratitude could stop her from apologizing for being only able to give us “pan.” She disappeared for a while and returned, murmuring about hamburgers.
I couldn’t remember who finally got the courage to say we had to go, but someone did. No, our hamburgers should be on their way now, Manang Linda said. We stood up anyway.
“Unsa kaha sud-an na lang, ipabalot na lang nato ?” she asked.
With a plastic bag all ready to burst with the celery, green peppers, kamansi, marang and labong, I had to take the marang out and carefully put in the sandwich.
There’s still my soup to cook for my diet the following day, so I asked to be dropped at Victoria Plaza. There I was with a small red plastic bag almost bursting with its contents and a marang on the other hand feeling oh-so-much-like-a-real-promdi going through the bag inspection.
Two days later, while waiting for the red light to turn green along Quirino Ave., I saw a middle-aged lady lugging three durian fruits in one hand and a plastic bag in the other.
Poise is nothing but pretense. I’d go for the spunkiness. And yes, I just saw chutzpah personified in that middle-aged lady as she lugged her three spiky durian fruits.
(Stella Estremera writes for Sun.Star Davao)
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