…in the city!

At least we hope we get some decent sleep in the coming days. ;)

At around 4 pm we arrived in the city yesterday. (Para kaming lipat bahay, pati electric fan bitbit namin.) We “fixed” the room, put in our stuff –mostly clothes, toiletries and food. LOTs of food. I made the small bed and Raine went on to play with the landlady’s daughter. She is Raine’s classmate in grade 1. My mother and new sis-in-law helped us move in.

Then later in the afternoon, Raine and I went out to eat. We were just buying time after that, just to escape the heat outside and the heat inside our room. Before we noticed, it was past 7 pm already. Like a typical city, downtown Sorsogon is bustling with people everywhere. Everyone was in a hurry. Raine and I were still enjoying the A/C in an internet shop when suddenly the counter girls said they are about to close.

wtf?!

So it turned out that most shops and stores here close at 730. That’s when I realized this place is still barriotic. I spent 18 years in LB and at 9 pm, the night is considered still young. It doesn’t matter if it is Sunday night or Thursday night. So Raine and I started walking home. Raine was out in sleep number bed 1 at 830. He must be really tired. Besides, ang init dito sa city –another contributing factor to being tired.

Sorsogon City - 19

Don’t be deceived by this modern facade (see photo above). For there still old-fashioned shops abound. I said old-fashioned, because the store is owned by a singkit-ang-mata person. He’d be sitting in front of the cash register while several girls attend to customers at the counter. All items bought will be coursed through to him including the payment. You get the picture. You can’t even queque anywhere. You just squeeze yourself in at the counter, hoping that one of the girls notice you.

So we passed by such a store and Raine suddenly fancied this small yo-yo. For 10 pesos I tried to get to the counter. Three to four  girls passed me by and I tried to get the attention of each one of them. Galit na ako. Pagod pa! Uminit ang batok ko!

I was about to leave the 10 pesos at the counter in front of one girl. The girl said something…something like I should wait blah blah blah.  I snapped at the girl! Sorry sya 3 sana silang yakyakan ko. Eh sya lang yung naiwan sa harap ko. So I said (with matching nginig ng katawan at init sa buong mukha) :

Sa halagang 10-pesos paghihinyatin mo ako ng isang oras?! Kanina pa kayong tatlo na paka-ang-kaang dito sa harapan ko di nyo ako pinapansin?! Eto na ang yo-yo nyo di ko na yan bibilhin!

Then I started to walk out.

(Of course dahil iba ang bicol lingo dito sa city than doon sa barrio namin, i was speaking in tagalog.)

Tameme ang babae. She hurriedly took the yo-yo and the ten pesos then went to the cashier. Then very slowly she wrapped the yo-yo in some kind of manila paper. I grabbed the thing out of her hand and marched out of the store, Raine holding my hand. Everyone turned their heads at me while these were all happening. I didn’t care. I still don’t care! Bahala sila. Eh di mag-reklamo sila. Eh totoo namang super-bagal ng kilos ng mga sales lady na yun.

I grew up in such a store you know. My “lolo” na singkit ang mata who owned it hates it when costumers were waiting. Costumers shouldn’t even queque in front of your store. Everyone at he counter should be snappy. So that the costumers will come back.

He said even if you only earn 1-peso per item in your store as long as you sold the item right away, then it is good business. There shouldn’t be cobwebs in the shelves where your items are sitting. Even me and my brothers used to help in packing the items sold. Kasi nga di puede ang mabagal kumilos. And there were like 10 people working in lolo’s merchandising store. He was selling everything, from buttons to rice.

He wasn’t really my blood lolo but treated me and my brother like his real grandkids. Just because our parents were working in his stores. That time we two were the only kids in that store. Mahilig si lolo sa mga bata, suwerte daw sa negosyo. Lalo na pag lalake. He escaped mainland China in his teens and made it to HongKong and then later to Manila, where he and his brothers built businesses.

In the store I mentioned above, I wanted to have a litany of I know where you sales lady are coming from. But I hated the way they were moving soo slow so I really snapped. Raine was even cowering behind me, because I was angry at some people.

You know, I learned basic math in lolo’s store. Hayyy. Memories, memories. ;)

Yan muna…there’s a part 2 to this. :)