DON'T be shocked if your lolo's and lola's suddenly talk about the recent hip movie whose target market is the current generation, and not them. The oldies have strut their stuff and our government has made sure that they are up to date with the latest movie trends through Republic Act 9994, or the 'Expanded Senior Citizen's Act of 2010.'
Every Mondays and Tuesdays, senior citizens crowd as early as 9:30 a.m. at the main entrance of Centrio mall, ready to race their way up to the 3rd floor to get their free movie passes by just presenting their Senior Citizen's Identification Card.
It was such an amusement to witness how a whole different generation socialized with one another, and soon find out that they actually are not that different compared to the youth today!
Despite the long line that they have to wait in order to get their movie tickets, they keep themselves entertained by telling stories about the past, their families and friends to other senior citizens they just met that day.
It is such an astonishing phenomenon to see people become that friendly and open about their lives to recent acquaintances. It becomes even more interesting when they stumble upon a common friend and realize that they were actually classmates before!
Aside from meeting new faces, this activity has also been a way for the senior citizens to bond with their families and friends. Oftentimes, kids are seen running around being chased by their lolo with a bottle in one hand, and a bag of popcorn in the other, as they wait for the cinema to open.
Lola Herminia Dumaraog makes it a point to bring her teenage apo to Filipino romantic movies as a way to spend time together as well as to have an assistant when it comes to understand the culture of the characters in the movie. She also brings her friend, Lola Carmen Saclot to the movie to have their own girl-time.
And being early as they always are, they wait in line at 12:00 noon on the dot for the movie that they are watching at 12:45 p.m.!
Once in the cinema, an overload of cuteness still takes place as they laugh at jokes, cry with their favorite actors, and get 'kilig' in the 'happily ever after' part of the movie. And they are not afraid to show every emotion they feel all-throughout the showing. And once the show has ended, they bid goodbye to their friends, and promise to see each other the next week to watch a different movie together.
A small benefit that brings happiness and fellowship for our lolo's and lola's. This privilege is just a small token for our beloved senior citizens, the city's long-time pedestal who have devoted their lives to the development of the city.
And for those who are afraid of being mistaken for a senior citizen, do not fret: 60 might just be the new 30! (Patricia Ysabel Tabian, XU-DevCom intern)