'Yes, Grandpa.'

ben

‘Grandpa’, as all of us in the center called him, always wanted me to walk with him in a near basketball court. He loved watching some teenagers playing the game every afternoon after school. I thought he was a good basketball player when he was younger. He always held a ball with him whenever possible. Even his room was filled with poster of great basketball players of his times. I asked him, “Grandpa, maybe you were a star player when you were younger?” Later, he told me this line, “I was never a good basketball player. I never tried playing basketball.” He surprised me with those words that came out of his mouth. How come that a man of great dedication to basketball have never played basketball in his entire life? Granda continued, “When I was 10 I got an accident. The doctors had to cut off my feet.  It was one of the darkest moments of my life, but I had no choice. From then on, I could never play basketball. Inspite of my condition, I can still try to play. It is never too late. I am still alive. Am I right?” Saddened by the conversation, I slowly pushed his wheel chair again going to the court as I answered him, “Yes, Grandpa.”

childhood friends

ben

Tina and Sabel grew up together in a far flung area where everyone knew each other because of the limited number of residents. They were childhood friends, and became best friends at 18. They went to college together at the same school. Even when they found jobs, they stayed together in one roof. But one morning the two never saw each other again. A letter was found on the table addressed to Tina. The letter was like this: “I know you have all the things you wanted. A job that really fulfills you.  A family that really cares for you. I am  leaving you for the first time in our almost 25 years of friendship. I know it is difficult for the two of us to be separated but this is what I know. I am still your best friend and I don’t want you to be angry at me. I just don’t want to be your boyfriend’s number 2.”

a frog's plea

ben

A frog once prayed of becoming like a turtle. Surreptitiously, a fairy godfather heard the frog’s prayer. So he magically appeared in front of the frog and said, “You want to be as big as the turtle, right? Make that wish again and it will come true.” So the frog hastily expressed his desire and it did happen. His shape and size became different, like that of a turtle.

Soon after, big snakes went to prey in the kingdom of frogs. Most frogs hopped as far as they could to shun from their predators. In a corner of a big stone there seen hiding the frog who was granted to become like a turtle shaking with fear and lament. One frog talked to him and asked, “Why don’t you run away from the snakes? Come on, let’s move quickly!” The only words he answered were, “Ok. I’ll follow.” After that, he wept and finally lost hope. The moment he became big, he also became slow. He could barely jump either.

envy

ben

A teacher whispered to me that two students in his classes cried just in one semester. “Oh, I envy you,” another teacher feedbacked. The first teacher was a bit wind up with the second teacher’s response. So he asked the second teacher, “Why did you say that?” The second teacher murmured, “ I sometimes also get angry in my class and tries hard to make them cry for them to realize that teaching is also hard but those are useless unintentional tactics. My students are unbeatable. They can't be moved to cry. The more I get serious and mad, the more they smile and laugh. From then on I told myself that it is really inept for me to get angry at them. I’ll just smile.That's why I envy u for making your students cry. I wish I could make them cry as well.”


the priest and the killer

ben

A priest advises a killer to confess his sins. But the killer asks the question back in lieu of the priest’s counsel. The priest elaborates that sometimes he also commits sins like missed out praying sessions and getting angry at students who learn catechism. After the priest’s admission of his some believed-to-be wrongdoings, he reiterates, “How about you? What is your confession?” The killer tells the priest to go inside the confession room. The priest says it is not important anymore since they are already facing each other. But the killer is adamant in his advocacy to let the priest be in the booth while he admits his sins behind a thin wall. The priest gets perplexed, however, abides to the killer’s plea. At last, the priest is sitting in a stool inside the confession room while the killer kneels down to confess. The father asks again the question for the third time, “What is your confession?” The killer slowly answers, “Sorry, Father. I killed your son today.."

pairs

ben

Chopsticks work well in two.

Spoon and fork are good combination, too.

Eyeglasses, earphones, gloves, and socks are good as pairs as well.

Shoes and slippers, feet and arms, add them too.

Romeo and Juliet, Angelina and Brad Pitt, are pretty good duo.

So tell me: How do I live without you?

two wheels

ben

Ever since I was a kid, if there was one thing I would like to do, I would throw myself into practice until such time that I would be good at it. I liked bicycling. So in order for me to learn its basics I lived riding bicycle out almost everyday for 3 or more months. There were many falls but I stood up and continued. There were bruises but quickly recovered.  Finally, after numerous rounds of pedaling with my bike, I was able to ride like a crow that  flies unwaveringly without falls and bruises.

Now that I am a grown up, it seems difficult to do things new to me. I want to go back to my childhood days during the times when I had to learn the nuts and bolts of riding my two wheels.

caption

ben

As I was browsing some pictures in a social networking page, I saw a college classmate turned husband together with his wife in a radiant filled colored photo. It was not the color though that took my attention; it was the caption: My wife, my life!

"I told you!"

Two siblings are walking on a street when they see a beggar asking for some penny. The girl reluctantly gives a couple of coins but the boy refuses to. The girl inquires to her brother, “Why you didn’t give any to the beggar?” The brother answers, “She is richer than us.” The whole day the girl has got puzzled to her brother’s statement.

The other day, the siblings again are walking on the street heading to the bank. When they reach inside a bank, to her amazement, the girl is shocked to what she sees. The girl just shouts in astonishment, “Oh, my gosh!” With a lopsided grin the boy counter reacts, “I told you!” The beggar in front of the teller is depositing huge bags of coins.

censured

If there are two sentences to describe my feelings now here they are:

1.      I feel liberated in such a way that I am given the chance to choose.

2.      I feel censured because I can’t be with the one that I have chosen.

ben

tables turned

ben

A manager screened all applicants to be his assistant. There were only two left among others who were also good but not witty enough to get the manager’s attention. One was a guy who worked in a respected company and the other was his subordinate. The first one was chosen, and the latter eventually step off the company. After some years, the assistant was caught red handed which prompted the manager to fire him out. And after some years, the company collapsed due to financial crisis. So this manager went from company to another in search for bread and butter. In one significant incident, the manager saw his then-inferior in front of him.

The then-inferior guy asked the manager, “Why did you choose the other guy instead of me before?”

The manager sincerely answered, “I thought he would perform better with his better experiences than you.”

Later, the manager discovered that the one whom he met was the same subordinate he had before was the AVP of the company he successfully joined in.

Tables ironically turned on the manager. On his first day of work, he went to AVP’s office and humbly cried, “I made a mistake. I underestimated you. I thought subordinates would always be subordinates…Sir.”

Why, Kai?

ben

My second class at school always amuses me with their simple laughter. For example, I taught them the sentence patterns for invitation. First, the greetings part. Then, asking if someone has a free time. After that was confirming and declining an invitation. What really made them laugh was on this conversation:

KAI: I am sorry I can’t go.

TEACHER: Why, Kai?

Whenever I asked this question beginning with ‘why’ plus the nickname of the student, my classroom would be filled with laughter. At first I didn’t know why. But to my curiosity, and because I wanted not to be left behind their happiness, I asked them why they giggled when I threw the question: “Why, Kai?”

The students presumed that 'Why' and 'Kwai' had the similar sound. In their language, ‘Kwai’ means buffalo. It is an animal of ridicule. If someone is called a buffalo it means that he is weak, ridiculous, slightly stupid, and barbaric. So every time I asked my student this one, “Why, Kai?” they thought that I was stating that Kai is a Kwai or in this way, “Kwai , Kai? (Buffalo, Kai?). Putting fire to their fiery enjoyment, I asked this question almost to everyone. My second class has shallow fun but is never boring.

two messages

ben

Two messages were sent to Rosa while she was at work. The first was a good one. She was asked to go on a date with a colleague who likes her. They’re both in the same company. The second was her friend Linda’s message telling her that Tommy, Rosa’s ultimate crush, had asked Linda for a date as well. Linda invited Rosa to go with her and have a double date. But Rosa hesitated because she thought that it would be very awkward being with someone she likes but dating someone else. So, Rosa finally declined Linda’s summon and they went on each other’s date. For many times, Linda asked Rosa to be with her on a date but still Rosa felt unobtrusive to be with Linda and Tommy. After a week, the women agreed to meet and dine with each other. That time Rosa’s face couldn’t be painted because of resentment. What happened? First, Rosa’s date was never real. Second, Rosa found out that Tommy was really in love with her. But because Rosa never entertained being with him, he flew miles away to find his luck in life and love..

2nd honors' kiss

ben

An intelligent boy grew up in the rural areas of Tarlac, Philippines. Eventhough he didn’t go to a kindergarten school, still he was surely admitted in Grade 1 in a public school because he was smart. After a while, he became the favorite among all teachers because he mostly topped or placed first in any competition— whether Math, Science, English, or Social Studies. Moreover, his mother also expected that when graduation would come, he would be the best in the class because he bagged most awards in contests. The long wait was over; the culmination of school was announced. While the teacher was declaring the final rank of the pupils in her class, the boy’s energy immediately died down. Instead of getting the first honors, the boy only got the second honors. He kept mummed and didn’t ask. Sooner the parents found out that the boy’s mark in GMRC was a little low pulling him to rank 2. The mother of the boy asked, “What is GMRC?” The teacher explained to the mother, “That’s Good Manners and Right Conduct. Your son kissed some girls many times at the school. He was warned many times but he was stubborn. He excelled maybe academically but behavior matters most in learning.”

two trees in the middle of the forest

ben

This is a story of two trees in the middle of the forest.

The small tree told the big one, “I think you’re old. Your bark is rough and crackly. Why not just let yourself be cut so you can still be of good use?”

The big tree replied, “Do you know the reason why I am still here?”

The small tree remarked, “Why?”

“So that when a strong storm comes, or when the sun shines like hell, I just spread my leaves and branches to cover you as hard as I can. I don’t want your bark to be rough and crackly as mine,” the old tree answered.

“You don’t need to do that!” the small tree flamboyantly chided.

But the big tree insisted, “I made a promise to myself a few years ago to protect that one seed that fell under my wings—to make her the best tree ever here in the forest. Look at that seed now, it turned out to be a beautiful you.”

ice cream friends

ben

Two friends were eating ice cream when suddenly one of them  asked a question:

FRIEND 1: Can you handle a long distance love affair?

FRIEND 2: Yes, I can. I hope my girlfriend can handle it, too.

FRIEND 1: Do you love her?

FRIEND 2: As much as I love her, I want to get married to her.

FRIEND 1: Wow!

FRIEND 2: I have been looking for a friend, partner, lover, adviser, teacher, and wiser person than I am, and I am proud to say she's the 'one'.

FRIEND 1: But, are you loyal to her?

FRIEND 2: I am more faithful to her. I can never be loyal without being faithful; however, I can be loyal without being faithful.

ant & termite

ben

Ant and Termite were bestfriends, but eventually they turned into strangers:

ANT: I will build my own house so that on the rainy days I'll have a shelter:
TERMITE: Oh, great!

After some months, Ant was caught in surprise when he saw his house into smithereens.

ANT: What did you do to my house?
TERMITE: I was really hungry, so I gobbled  your house down.

The two were never seen together again.

two plates of spaghetti

ben

A mother of two kids was wondering why one of her sons, Gabriel, 5, was crying out loud in the middle of a birthday party. So she went straightly to where her son was and attended to him to inquire what happened. The boy exclaimed, "My plate of spaghetti fell down while I was eating. Someone nudged on it," as he cried more poignantly. The mother continued to pacify the kid because he was still sobbing on their way home. Inside the car, the mother asked again why he was still crying. The boy wailed and said, "I got TWO plates of spaghetti for myself. I ate one but the other fell down. I just wanted to bring home the other one for my brother." Then, the mother smiled as she cuddled the boy in her arms.

2 am

ben

Just a few weeks ago, I wasn’t able to get a good sleep due to excessive thinking. Whenever I feel this itch on my brain, automatically, my body always wants to keep on doing something. So, one time, as I was talking to my friend overseas, Eddienel, I told him that I have this kind of sleep disturbance and asked for a piece of advice, he suddenly uttered familiar lines that struck me a bit. He told me, “Ain’t it that before when you got awakened at 2am, you always went to your knees and pray? You even posted that on your shout out last year. When your eyes are still dilated at 2am or later than that, why not grab the opportunity to pray?” Oh, wow! I smiled. I couldn’t imagine that Eddienel has this photographic memory of what I have said in the past. But in a way, this is good and true. In times that I feel anxious about a certain incident, I can always remember '2am' and Eddienel, and then get down on my knees and pray! I am more than encouraged that I have reminded of this.