Reckless

"What I feel is come and gone before
No need to talk it out
We know what it's all about
Hanging around, nothing to do but frown"

-- Rainy Days and Mondays by The Carpenters


It's 2:19 in the morning and I just got home from Sunday School. Needless to say, my list of NO people keep piling up.

Yesterday I met up with my former officemates for a birthday celebration. I only knew 3 of the 10 people that were there, but I found myself pretty relaxed about it. We dropped my friend off somewhere beside the riverbanks of Marikina, wondering how the hell we'd get back to civilization from where we were. We spent the rest of the dawn in their office building. They were using the internet while I went roaming around the floors looking for ghosts. There weren't any aside from the creepy toilet for men, which was situated at the farthest corner on the floor and the cleaning lady whose hair was in wreckless abandon. It was, after all, 4 in the morning at that time.

Interestingly, I find I always take the time out to survey new surroundings. New houses, new offices, new schools. I especially like it when there are no people around. I try feeling out little bits and pieces of human activity, similar to an anthropologist who'd examine prehistoric tools and ruins in hopes of theorizing a primitive way of life.

The forest green couches looked really comfy, so I lay down on one and lifted the Venetians for a better view outside. From the 19th floor at 4:30am, everything looked so peaceful. There were no cars in the streets, the yellow lights were at full luminosity, and the office was very quiet. It was as if Saturday night partying had not come to pass. I almost fell asleep waiting for the morning to arrive.

My new friend and I went downstairs to join the other neo-factory workers where it was legal to belch. From all of her stories, I kinda felt a bit of pity for her and her co-workers because I remembered how I was before when I used to have that job, continually talking about work as if the people listening could relate entirely to what was being talked about. It was all complaints, sour relationships, delinquency and exploitation, and threats of resignation. I felt the story never really changes and is the same for most employees of these neo-factories utilizing quality Asian labor.

Then again, I also felt that it's a matter of perspective. At 8am on a Sunday, I sermoned them and told them they're lucky some companies are simply more lenient with the reckless. I should hear myself speak sometimes ...