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Sunday, June 25, 2006
Luab: Risks and the price we pay
By Evelyn R. Luab
Light Sunday
When our Leo Oracion, Erwin Emata, and Ronie Garduce conquered Mt. Everest, they knew exactly what price they could have paid along the way to the top.
Frostbite was one of the minor risks. Death could have been the bigger price to pay. I suppose for them the satisfaction of seeing their dreams come true, the fame, honor and glory they brought to us were worth the high risk.
When two people decide to get married, they too take risks, calculated or not. The price of a broken marriage is pretty steep, too. Broken hearts are the least of the pains. Children’s lives are laid on the line. Suicide may even occur and spouses, marred for life.
When people leave home to work abroad, they know the problems they may have to face. Loneliness, possible deportation, beatings from sadistic employers, or imprisonment in a foreign land. However, since the stakes are high, like relief from dire poverty, people take a chance. Often the pot of gold is found. Some, however, come home in a box or lose their family during the time they are away.
I was recently in a situation where I had to take a calculated risk and I told myself never again will I go through the experience.
A close friend needed a househelper very badly because her former househelper suddenly left her. I agreed to send the sister of my househelper by boat to Manila. We gave her a picture of my friend and her husband, and armed her with a cell phone. We bought a tourist class ticket for her and saw to it that her bed neighbors would be women. We took her to the boat ourselves and didn’t leave until the boat left the dock.
During the 22 hours she was on board the ship, I was checking every now and then how she was. At one time I couldn’t contact her during the day and I was worried crazy. I had visions of her falling off the ship or her losing her cell phone to a snatcher or her being dragged into a lonely part of the ship and raped. My daughter, seeing how wrought I was, commented, “You are paranoid! There are blind spots in the sea when there is no signal. If you can’t be at peace, you should have accompanied her to Manila yourself.” True enough. After an hour had lapsed, I got a text message from her saying she had fallen asleep and did not hear her cell phone’s ring.
Arrival time in Manila was 8 p.m. I knew my friend was already at the pier ready to meet her as she would go out to the gate where my friend waited.
Again I had visions of “….what if they do not see each other in spite of the pictures they had exchanged via our speed mail system? What if a swindler would dupe our Betty (not her real name) into following her to a supposedly better job and she would wind up in a white slavery network?
Again my daughter scolded me and said, “Mommy, she is over 21 years old.
She wasn’t forced to go. You facilitated her safe conduct and your friend is very responsible. What in the world will we do with a worry-wart like you?”
True enough, I received a call from my friend thanking me and telling me that all went well with their meeting. They found each other almost at the same time. When I heard Betty’s voice on my cell phone telling me she was safe, I slumped in relief. Then it dawned on me that there are many such Betty’s in the Philippines who travel distances not really knowing what the future holds for them except for the hope of a better financial life. My heart goes out to people like Betty whose trust in the goodness of people is still intact. I pray that she does not get disillusioned by this cruel world. Me? The next time I do something like that, I’d rather accompany the househelp than be miserable for 22 hours. Calculated or not, I refuse to risk somebody else’s well-being again.
I will probably continue taking risks, like being in a crowded group during the Black Nazarene procession, or taking a taxi alone at night from Mactan airport to my home. But I will try to minimize risk to life and limb. Do I hear a chiding of promises, promises, promises?
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 25, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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