Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Family handy man
By Rene Lizada
Papa's Table
LAST Saturday afternoon I was recovering from a week of seminars. I was exhausted and pooped. So I plunked into bed and fell into a deep restful sleep. When I woke up, my wife had a pleasant surprise for me. It really made my afternoon. And it was one of those times when my wife becomes teary-eyed because of too much laughing.
Chona's family has a handy man called Godo. For some reason, which I cannot comprehend, my wife calls him Colonel Godo. This man is small, rather dark, has big eyes and does not talk much. But he is good around the house. He probably did not finish college but I think he knows more than I do in terms of household items. He can fix up a bulb and I cannot. He recently tore down our windows and placed a new wall and he even painted them. I can probably tear down windows but erecting a wall is a totally different thing.
One time, Chona asked him to install new pipes for the maid's quarters. He did that and even more. Having noticed that the door to the maid's quarters needed repair he suggested that we take the door down and replace it with a new one. And he did. One day, my wife saw that the roof in our prayer room was leaking.
She called the colonel and soon enough he fixed the roof. A few months ago, Godo built a half court where Gabo could practice basketball. As of this writing Colonel Godo can change bulbs, build basketball courts, tear down walls and windows and replace the, paint, fix leaking roofs and install new pipes and make our lives easier. For his stature, Godo is truly a remarkable handyman. As a person he is quiet, unassuming and a pleasant man. But perhaps in his life, he never expected the text messages that my wife sent him.
About two weeks ago, my wife bought two corner caddys. You know those contraptions that you put in the bathrooms to place your brushes and toiletries? This particular device had to be drilled into the corners and since my wife did not have a drill, naturally she would turn to the colonel for help. But she had a problem. She did not know how to explain the drill to Godo. But she tried and the messages went like this:
Chona: Nong Godo, may barina ka dyan? (I know, I know!)
Godo: Chon, meron akong barina, pero sira.
Chona: Ay, kelan maayos ang barina mo?
Godo: Sa Sabado pa Chon.
Chona: Okay, pwede ka punta dito Sunday and dalhin mo ang barina kasi may ipa-barina ako.
Godo: Okay Chon.
That was the initial exchange. When Sunday came this was how they texted.
Chona: Nong Godo, ayos na ba ang barina mo?
Godo: Wala pa Chon.
Chona: Kelan pala maayos ang barina mo?
Godo: Sa Tuesday pa.
Chona: Sige, pag naayos na barina mo, sabihan mo ako.
Then after a few days the exchange went something like this:
Chona: Nong Godo, ayos na ba ang barina mo?
Godo: Yes Chon, ayos na ang barina ko! Pumunta ako sa bahay nyo, dala ko barina ko pero di ko alam kung ano ipa-barina mo!
When Chona related that story to me, all my fatigue just disappeared. We were practically rolling on the floor when we were talking about it. My wife, as I said, has this peculiar habit that when she finds something extremely funny she laughs and tears just fall. And on that particular afternoon she was in tears and my belly was aching because of the inanity of the text messages.
Last week was particularly heavy for both of us and we needed that laugh. Thank God for small things. It was fun listening to that story and even as I write this I am laughing my head off. When I asked Chona for conformation of the messages we ended up laughing as hard as when she first mentioned it to me.
In fact when I told her to read the article she cried once more. And get this, it is Sunday when am writing this. And today Nong Godo will finally come to the house bringing with him his barina. For all our sakes, I hope it works.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (June 14, 2006 issue)
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