CPA Bum

I’m going to talk about what happened tonight. No, not work, I believe I’ve whined enough about it on my twitter (@miadagal). Hehe. It’s not every night that I accidentally send a wrong message to everyone, that I run out of cash, and that someone approaches me and asks for money. All those happened to me on my way home. I was basag like that, daig pa ang nakainom. Haha!

I came from Crossing (Shaw Boulevard) and was planning to drop by the office to prepare some slips for tomorrow. But then it was already late. I took off the bus at Paseo around 8:30PM. While walking across Ayala Ave. to Rufino Street, I thought of why not walk back to Ayala EDSA and head home, since it’s also my sister’s birthday. (Please greet her, @rizzadagal on twitter! Hehe.) I wanted to celebrate it with her and my family. But then, my feet turned right to Rada St., off to Serenitea. Couldn’t help, I was so tired and drained, and my lips got chopped pa :( Apparently, I have a friend who sometimes stays and sleeps in that condo where Serenitea is located. So I messaged her right away to ask if she was there. What I did on my phone, instead of composing a new message, I keyed-in her name and clicked “search.” All kinds of communications I made with her would show up. I chose the one where I sent her an SMS. “Mar! U at Rada?” I texted. Immediately after a second, I received two messages. Message 1 from colleague: “Walking near Standard Chartered.” Message 2 from Mar: “Wala. Bakit?” Then after a minute, I received from another colleague: “Mar! U at Rada? –huh?” Then from another friend, “Wrong sent ka, Mia. Haha!” So I started to open my eyes wide enough to check what I sent minutes ago…. “DANG! WRONG SENT!!!!!” was my instant thinking. Haha! How did it happen?!?! Later, I recognized that I sent my personal message to the same people I greeted during Christmas. That particular message appeared on my search ‘cos Mar’s name was in there. She was one of the few people I greeted. If you didn’t receive, I apologize, I don’t have your mobile number. :) When I learnt about it, I paused and thought for a few seconds, “Should I inform them it was a wrong message or should I just ignore?” Blah, I chose the former. I texted them an apology message. Hahaha! Then, I entered Serenitea silently laughing at my own mistake.

I ordered Okinawa (brown sugar based tea) with 50% less sugar. I was carrying a backpack so when I was asked for my payment, I needed to bring it down on a chair and looked for my wallet. After three minutes of searching for money, I realized… I RAN OUT OF CASH!!! I was already at the counter and people were waiting and I already placed my order and so I should pay! But I had only one bill left in my coin purse and it was a FIFTY PESO BILL! My wallet had no bill! Only cards and receipts!!!! Hahaha! So I had to say it while being looked at, “I ran out of cash. Mag withdraw lang ako muna ha? Balik ako.” WAAAAAAHHH!!!! Thank God, there was an ATM in front of the building! I went back and paid and got my tea. I was walking back to Dela Rosa while still exchanging messages and sharing what I just experienced to some friends. Then some random man talked to me.

“Pasensya na po sa abala. Nahuli po kasi yung paninda kong mga buko pie sa Ayala. Bawal po pala magtinda dun. Sa Calamba po ako nauwi. Baka po pwedeng makahingi kahit pamasahe lang po.” Wala na akong nasabi kundi, “Magkano po pamasahe niyo?” He said, “80 po. Pasensya na po sa abala. Kung lagi po kayo dito, dadalhan ko po kayo ng buko pie.” Without even hearing his last words, I was already getting my wallet in my bag. Buti na lang nakapag withdraw ako! I gave him a hundred bucks and said, “Wag na po kayo magtinda dun next time ha… Merry Christmas! :)” He then thanked me and replied, “God bless.”

It was so random, I was so touched on that split second. So glad I was given a chance to help that man. I remembered when I was once like that… not that I got caught selling on prohibited areas, but it was when I joined Run for Pasig last year. I don’t know if I’ve shared this before but I’ll say it anyway. I left everything, i.e. mobile and money, in the car. I kept nothing with me when I ran with my sister. I totally forgot that my sister runs almost twice as fast as I do. So she finished right away while I was in the middle of thousands of people… MISSING! Hahaha! Man, I walked the whole Mall of Asia for FOUR FREAKIN’ HOURS!!! Until I reached the police station and asked if I could make use of their mobile to text my mom because, I said, “I WAS MISSING!” Wahahaha! Hilarious! After living two decades, nun pa ako nawala! Hahaha! So that’s why I felt really bad for him. It takes a lot of guts to ask a stranger for money or favor you know you can’t return right away or in the future. Sa sitwasyon ko nun, it was so difficult na makitext sa stranger. SOBRA! Admit it, if you were on the other side, you’d think twice and be skeptic about it. What if it was just a scam or an act, di ba? Pero wala eh, hindi ko na naisip yun kasi I’d been there. I know how hard it was. Now, I feel thankful that I bumped into him, or he bumped into me. I’m very happy to be of help to somebody. If he was lying, it’d still be okay with me.

What a very memorable night it was. Good night y’all! <3