By EMMA P
VALENCIA, MD
THE MONTH of
October compared to other months, seems to be a ho- hum month for festive
celebrations.
Look, in our
calendar of National Observances, there is none for October (well, just today,
October 10, Pres Aquino declared Oct 27 Eid-ul-Adha, a national holiday, it
used to be in November 7), while in November, we have three national holidays:
November 1 as All Saints’ Day (Todos los Santos), Eid-ul-Adha or festival of
sacrifice among our Muslim brothers on November 7, and Bonifacio Day on
November 30.
As you know,
Todos Los Santos is celebrated with a bang hereabouts- weeks before people
already streaming to the cemeteries to clean and spruce up the tombs of their
beloved.
On November 1,
Jollibee, McDo, KFC, Shakeys and other multinational fast food chains are cheek
to jowl with small vendors selling “kwek kwek” and “abnoy”.
And why not:
thousands flock to the cemeteries on this day- who, after praying for the souls
of their loved ones, hear their stomachs grumble for pizza, burgers and
hotdogs. Todos los Santos is not only a festival of candles and flowers of all sorts- it is also a festival of odors - the scent of burnt candles, scented and unscented, and the smell of hotdogs being fried, pizzas being baked, adidas and other chicken innards being grilled- all the odors/scents wafting and commingling in the air that covers the tombs of the dead. How is that for a Kafkaesque scenario, eh?
Anyway, it’s
October observances that I am concerned. There are national observances, though
they are not national holidays.
Like United
Nations Week. I will always remember this because when I was in elementary and
high school, this was a very very busy week for me. I had to represent our
school in declamation contests and quiz contests and I had to participate in
week long activities in school celebrating this organization’s contributions to
“peace and harmony” in the world.
I
remember wracking my brain to come up with something to describe the letters of
the United Nations, as we put up the cardboards for each letter on cue: U is
for United (we stand, divided we fall?), N is for Never (never again wars and
genocides?) I is for I (who have nothing?) ... etc.
And then there
was also a parade of flags, sometimes just inside the school grounds, but more
often, around the community where our school was located.
It felt like
Santacruzan in October- people were watching from their windows as we delegates
from each grade and section marched behind a marching band.
Masaya! Flags waving in the air as well as us waving
our hands as we pass by our own houses (Nay, Tay, dito kami!), and our friends
’- (Hoy Boying, dumungaw ka sa bintana dito na ang parada!).
Then, there is
also a week in October honoring our senior citizens. This is from October
1-7.
On this week, the spotlight is on
the elderly, and various activities are usually lined up on this week: beauty
contests (among lolas), singing and dance contests, parade of lolas and lolos,
etc.
Government
offices compete with each other in honoring outstanding senior citizens, and
benefit packages, such as health insurance, discounts in stores, etc are laid
out on this week.
Years ago, we
had a study on senior citizens, and as many studies before us had shown, they
are not a dependent lot.
In half of the
families where senior citizens reside, household expenses are shared by them,
and even in a third of these households, the head is a senior citizen. Yes,
sir, Filipino seniors are productive citizens of the country!
So, aside from
these two important occasions, celebrations in October still pale compared with
other months of the year.
So, I asked
myself how people of other countries, especially in our second home - the US of A, celebrate October.
So I searched the
web, and found this blogspot (brownielocks.com) where a list of observances and national celebrations are
posted, and according to the blogster - the list has been validated, which
means an observance is valid if it is
one of these things: declared a national
observance by government, by tradition or by a recognized group/minority, or if
initiated by an individual, there is a website dedicated to it and authentic listing of those who observe this
celebration is available.
Looking at
this list, I am just so happy that the list
includes celebrations of activities that strike near home, and reflect the contemporary global village citizens’ concerns in modern
day life. I note here some of those celebrations:
1. Scream Your
Frustrations Away Day. October 12. YES. We need to celebrate this occasion.
Right now, I am a screaming banshee. Look, my dogs have ripped off, tore to
pieces the papers on top of my working table while I was away. I have told them
countless times not to mess with my stuff, and they will meekly follow me.
Until of course, I leave the house for long hours, and frustrated as they are
in my not coming home earlier, they jump
onto my table and gleefully mess up my stuff.
Of course, when I enter the door,
they are all eyeing me meekly from their sofa, when I ask them angrily who did
this stuff? Each one turning his head and asking his neighbour- who me/ is she
talking to me?
I am also so frustrated
with myself for always forgetting to clean up my table before I leave, to put
the chairs under the table so they cannot use it as jumping board to the table. I am frustrated with myself
actually, and second only with my dogs
for not remembering what I told them, and for not being smarter than me.
2. Evaluate
your life day. October 19. This comes in the heels of World Menopause
Day-Oct.18. Now, only a woman-hating dude
could have made these occasions
come one after the other. Read
the fine print: you remember you are
menopausal - then the next day, you have
to evaluate your life? Why? Is menopause life changing?
That,
pre-menopause , I was this person, and after menopause, I am this
different person?
Menopause came
to my life surreptitiously. I did not feel the media-reported hot flushes,
irritability nor insomnia. Nothing. I was the same person pre and post
menopause.
So, I guess,
let’s just do away with this observance, but keep Evaluate your life Day in our
calendar. With all the activities we subscribe to, and the situations others
create that we find ourselves entangled with, we usually do not have time, at the end of the day, to evaluate
what we have done, should have done, should not have done.
One day in October,
we need to look back at our footprints and handmarks on the landscape of life.
Yes, keep this day.
3. National
Knock Knock Joke Day. October 31. Oh,
but this is passé here in PH ! Let’s
have a National Pick Up Day instead! Kuto ka ba? Bakit? Ang sarap mong tirisin!
Alarm clock ka ba? Bakit? Ang sarap mong patayin! Motorsiklo ka ba? Bakit? Ang
sarap mong tadyakan!. Yes, all these, I want to do to all the trapos ( traditional politicians) out there!
4. National
Toilet Tank Repair Month. Big deal in the US of A. Toilets do really figure
much in their lives, don’t they? I lived
in the states for a number of years. And yes, I could do so many things
in the toilet: read books, magazines, write down notes, make my assignments
.... the works!
But really, a month long celebration to remind
people to repair their toilet tanks!. Back here, I have a toilet tank in one of the rooms that
needs repairing. It is broken, and as it stands now, it has wires all over it
to keep it from falling apart.
My nephews
would also play with the flush (they like to hear the gargling water sound) so
there is too much waste of water, so I had the flush removed.
We make do
with buhos-buhos, because it saves water. This reminds me to change the toilet
altogether with the buhos type.
Not
relevant to PH I guess. Better, let’s have a Give a Toilet to each Household
Day, so we can get rid of flying saucers (only PH people would know what this
means!).
5. National
Popcorn Poppin Month. I love popcorns, ever since I was small. Going to church on Sundays was a much awaited
event in my young life because on Sunday, there is that popcorn man with his
glass-encased cart (with ilaw at night!) that churns out cotton candies and
popcorn, waiting at the church’s outside
gates.
Popcorn and movies also
go together in my life. Buttered, slightly salted.
I love the
sound of moviegoers all together popping popcorns at the start of the movies,
and the sound of crunching competing
with the sound’s soundtrack. Well, sometimes if
one is lucky, as I was , one may
hear incessant coughing, as one over enthusiastic lad popped more than
a mouthful, and choked.
After nahimasmasan, his parents loudly scolded him,
for everybody to hear: ang takaw mo kasi!
Laughter. And on with the movie,
and ... popcorn poppin! I definitely
would endorse this observance.
Now, I have
something to look forward to in celebration of coming Octobers.
It will not be
drab October, wala lang October anymore, as I wait for outlandish November and,
yes! Joyous December!
No comments:
Post a Comment