Thursday, August 25, 2011

two guys

ben
Two young ladies are happily chatting in a park where a lot of people are walking, jogging, and roaming around. They talk everything that may come to their minds. After several hours, love and marriage get into their pep talk. Lorna, one of two young ladies, see two young men as they sit and continue noticing the people around them. Letty, the other woman, pays attention to the two men as well. One man is old in formal attire drives an expensive car. Then, another guy who looks younger than Lorna and Letty gets off a bus simply in slippers.

Lorna asks Letty, "If these two guys ask for a date simultaneously, and you need to choose only one, who will you pick?"

Letty answers, "Probably, that old rich guy."

All of a sudden, there is silence. After, Lorna and Letty break into loud laughter which makes the two guys have a glance at them. The ladies immediately halt laughing then after some seconds they giggle again like children. 

Letty throws this line to Lorna as they walk home, "I am sure you are going to choose the old rich guy as well."

Lorna smiles, and then, nods her head. 


play with a partner

A manager and his subordinate went to play badminton in a gym-like court near their office after work. The two put on their sport suit and grabbed their rackets and a shuttlecock. At first, the manager was quite aloof to get along with the people around the court. So, he suggested to have a match with his subordinate. The manager had a hard time catching his breath like a dog as the game ended. The subordinate asked the boss if he would like to play doubles. The subordinate would be teamed up with the boss competing with other badminton team players in the court.  In the beginning, the manager was hesitant to play with a teammate. He thought it would so much inconvenient having someone beside him. The manager agreed finally. And as the game proceeded, the manager  was enjoying the game. They played more and more and the games were really tooth and nail. After several hours of playing together as a team, the manager told the subordinate, "Now, I know that it is better to play with a partner. When I played by myself, I got tired, but with the help and assistance of a partner, I played smoothly and easily. We even won three times." 
ben

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

light and eyesight

ben
My friends always tell me that the lights are too dim whenever they visit my house. I always answer them that it is because the lights are in low watts. One early evening as I am cleaning, I also notice that the light in the terrace gets dimmer and dimmer. At first, I just shrug my shoulders and leave it as it is. But as night falls, the place gets dimmer...and dimmer. Immediately, I take a high stool inside and check the light in the terrace. There I notice the problem.

Sometimes, we ignore things that make our eyesight dimmer and dimmer. We just make remedies when our eyes get blinded and regret in the end. If our eyesight gets worse and worse, we may get blinded as we get older.

So, as I stand on the stool and stretch my hands to check the light, I see small dead brown flies that are mustered on its cover. These unwanted flies are the ones that hamper the light to shine brighter. These wrap the light forbidding it to produce its luminance in the terrace.

Do dead and unwanted flies handicap your eyesight making you blinded and not see the brightness around you? Have yourself a check-up.

distinct thing on his hands

ben
A devastating flood comes into the city. Most of the houses are washed away with the brown water. People panic where to go and what to save. Some save their dogs, money, clothes, jewelry, possessions, etc. But a 6-year-old boy has the most distinct thing on his hands. He picks it up as it is being carried away by the current. It is wet but he manages to raise it up as he stands on the roof as rescuers come to save him and his family. He is asked by someone why he carries the thing on his hands, and he replies, "Every morning, I raise this thing on a pole. Before I go back home, I remove it on a pole and carefully fold it into triangle. I think it is very important because I keep it everyday."

Later, he is being awarded in the community for saving a national flag. 

Monday, August 22, 2011

air-condition

ben
Eva, at her early twenty's, had been working for two months already in a well-known company. Everything was going smoothly in her job but there was only one thing she didn't like. The office had no air-condition. For almost 2 months of staying in the office, she had been complaining the temperature. However, one incident made her realize one thing:

As she was on a taxi going to work, she saw a family walking along the streets. She presumed that the family had no house because she saw them almost everyday on that road rambling around. They wandered from one place to another tolerating the heat of the sun. Their skin were almost burnt and black. The family's only shield was a box made of paper at daytime. At night time, they went under a bridge to rest and sleep.

Her heart was struck after seeing this family on the street several times. Since then, she never complained about having no air-condition in her office. Whenever she felt warm, she thought of the family walking on the streets under the scorching heat of the sun.

hard work doesn't kill anyone

She didn't study in university but she worked hard to own everything she has now. She is now the CEO of a prestigious firm in the city. She also has some restaurant businesses in the area. How did she acquire all of these without having been to a university?

ben
She belonged to a class 'C' in the community. She believed she was a nobody but was able to raise  her post through hard work. She started as a secretary in the office. Eventually, her boss promoted her to be an executive secretary. There was a time when her boss needed to go out of the country unprecedentedly, so her boss told her to take over a meeting with a client. Unexpectedly, she was able to let the client sign over a luxurious deal which in the end gave the company high earnings. From then on, her boss trusted  her to take over some deals which again promoted her as a negotiating officer in the company. Almost every night, she studied, mastered, and by heart learned all the basics and techniques of this profession which made her the most-regarded and trusted employee in her company. After 2 years, she got promoted. Then year after year, her position had elevated until such time that she became the CEO in the company.

In a TV talk show episode entitled 'Rags to Riches' where she guested lately, she was asked by the host with this, "What is your secret to success?"

She answered, "There's no secret at all. Just hard work. Hard work doesn't kill anyone. Hard work is as much as intelligence.Learn your profession. Love what you are doing."






Thursday, August 18, 2011

a car or two

In her near 60, an upcoming senior citizen complained, "I have been working for almost 40 years of life but I haven't gotten rich or millionaire. Where have all my monies gone?I don't even have a car or two."
ben



pubescent

A 70-year-old grandfather is having a heart to heart talk with his 13 year-old grand-daughter. This teen does have a lot of tantrum. She's in an age which we call transition period from childhood to puberty. She complains a lot. She rebels a lot. She frowns a lot. Her face is always gloomy. She barely grins whether at home or outside. But only one line from the grandfather kicks her heart out whenever this young woman dislikes situations and her rebellious and pubescent character spurts out. The grandfather says to the grand-daughter, "Smile while you still have teeth, grand-daughter."


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

joey and joey's kid

ben
When Joey was a kid he used to play   marbles, and rubber bands or outside the house like hide and seek, batting ball, etc. He frequently visited a river to have fun with his classmates some kilometers away from his house. He was enthusiastic whenever he saw his father or mother plant vegetables in their garden. His mother usually made some delicacies only made in their hometown. He got to watch TV programs in his grandmother's house because only a few families could afford to have TV at that time. When he got home with his mom, he used  a torch-like light to lead their path.

Now Joey's kid just stays inside the house playing video and computer games. His kid always insists to swim in a resort near their house. His kid doesn't know how to plant vegetable because he is enrolled in a private elite school. His kid usually eats spaghetti, pizza, or fried chicken, or any food from a fast food chain.This kid also has his own TV inside his room and can see anything without anyone's supervision. Sometimes, he also gets to watch movies inside a cinema.

Some years have passed by. Joey notice some changes in his environment's way of living. But one thing is for sure that would always remain in his memory: he was able to live a fruitful and healthy childhood. 




the biking sisters

Two girls made me cry when I saw them biking 5 kilometers from their boarding house to the school where I am teaching. Almost all the students ride motorcycles or drive cars going to school, but these two ladies have been pedaling their sole bicycle alternately for almost 4 years already.

ben
Whenever I see these two young ladies, one who pedals and the other is at the back, my heart tears up inside. It seems that they don't bother the heat of the day. It was all extremely opposite from what I had experienced. When I was a kid, I always got what I wanted. All my whimsical dreams were all given by my mother. I had this and that. I was able to visit here and there.I was full of caprice wanting everything that might have crossed my mind. As a matter of fact, from my primary to high school years, my parents had been picking me up at school. When I went to university I drove my own car to go to my classes.

But why did I cry? When I found out that these two young students are orphaned sisters, my eyes couldn't stop from crying. I didn't know why. 


Monday, August 15, 2011

i pray for faith

A very close relative divulged to me yesterday that she has cysts on her breasts, the left and the right. At a moment, I went into silence because I was so dumbfounded. All I thought was that her struggle into cyst  was over. Last year, she had her ovary cyst removed as well. For some minutes, I was mummed by the situation.

As I am writing this article, I am pleading to God for this woman I truly care:

Dear God,

You know how I love this woman. 

ben
Last year, I knelt down for her as the doctors removed her cyst in the ovary. You proved to her that You were the greatest healer. And, the operation turned out smoothly successfully.

Now that she is carrying a heavier burden, I pray for faith. Strengthen her faith so that she can face this gloomy music she is listening to right now. 

I pray for understanding. Let her understand these happenings into her life. Give her the spirit of discernment. Reveal the purpose of this struggle.

Lastly, touch her heart more than her wounds.

In the name of Jesus, amen. 

Mom, why my nose have holes?

Laura, a now grown-up, realized she had made some foolish-yet-heart-tickling questions to her Mom since the time she was conscious of telling something up until she reached 2. These were the questions she fondly asked her Mom:

1. Mom, why do snakes don't have legs?
2. Mom, how old is that bird on that tree?
3. Mom, where did you put my baby doll?
ben
4. Mom, why am I still short?
5. Mom, why do my older brother have to go to school all day long?
6. Mom, do worms have babies too?
7. Mom, why I don't have bra?
8. Mom, does God fly?
9. Mom, where are the houses of the trees?
10. Mom, can I eat water?
11. Mom, do shoes come in two?
12. Mom, how do cars move?
13. Mom, can you make me a baby boy?
14. Mom, why my nose have holes?
15. Mom, can I be your mother?

Laura smiled as she remembered her Mom. She missed being a child. She missed her mom's smile as she childishly asked these questions to her mom.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Uncle Ugly

Everywhere he goes, one distinct feature on his face is what people see most often. He has this line from the cheek going down his jaw. It is so obvious that anyone can recognize it even from afar. In his community, most people tag him as Uncle Ugly. For almost a decade of his life, he has been dubbed with this name.

The people don't know how he got his scar. The people have no idea how he had suffered from the scar he has on his face. The people criticize him. The people are mean to him.

His story goes like this:

Ten years ago, there were two men who tried to abduct his daughter. They almost raped her. But because he fought hard with these two men, he was able to prevent the bad incident that would have happened to his daughter. He gave his last drop of blood and energy just to protect his daughter's dignity. In the end, the two men went to jail, however, the scar on his face was a poignant remembrance from fighting for his daughter.

ben
Now, would you also call him Uncle Ugly?