Foot Spa

It has been a demanding week from start to finish. Now that classes have officially begun, and the new campus project couple of months away from completion, urgent changes and innovations in internal process flow and daily schedules need to be applied and implemented immediately. My mind is fixed doing things fast today in anticipation of the tomorrows. Rapid-firing keyboard strokes with daily follow-ups, cutting across the standard processes and burning telephone lines for coordination efforts have been the summative trade of this week.

This is the time of the year when I hate holidays. Wednesday has been declared as a Non-Working Holiday to give Filipinos the time to participate, witness and celebrate the inauguration of Noynoy Aquino as the 15th President of the Republic. Holidays simply means stoppage of work and that is the last thing I would want to happen while I’m chasing approvals and finalizing additional purchases.

With nothing else to do on a Wednesday except making few calls and meetings with selected business partners, I found myself defying traffic signs just to catch the grand opening of the blockbuster movie “Eclipse” at the Mall of Asia. I can’t believe what I saw when I get there! The corridor leading to the ticket booth is crowded with people in line as if waiting for their “humanitarian assistance loot” in a war torn country or simply waiting in line to buy a one-way-ticket to the Light Rail Transit (LRT) in the peak rush hours of Makati. The line extended as far as entrance of the mall!

Been travelling since the time I get to Manila, I felt that time that I don’t have the tenacity to stand in line and wait for my turn. My feet and legs are aching to grab a seat and malls don’t usually offer enough comfortable seats to shoppers. Mall owners deliberately put minimal chairs in their malls so shoppers will be forced to move around and explore the site leading to potentials purchases. I wanted to see Kristen Stewart (I like her face more than her character in the movie) but I can’t endure the sacrifice for now. There’s another for you Bella.

Then the unthinkable happened. Feeling my legs and feet aching, I suddenly crave for a foot spa! The last time I did it was summer of 2009 and it felt good for me but definitely not on the foot spa attendant. He (or she) has to suffer to make me feel good. Cruelty in motion :o). Today, the same experience is about to happen. Twelve months and so since I has my last foot spa, the parlor attendant is about to suffer the same fate, the first thing he (or she) asked me was if I am working and where. To “justify” the horrible condition of my feet, I told the gay I am a farmer from the province. I work every day, on wet and dry soils, barefooted from plowing the land to harvesting a few. He (she) miraculously believed me. He (she) continued to share his father’s work as a farmer in the province too which leads me to think that his (her) father and I have equally the same feet condition. :o)

After an hour and a half the hard labor was done. It’s amazing how a simple treatment can make someone feel good about oneself. I gave the gay a tip for her enthusiasm and hard work. The last thing he (she) told me before I left the shop was “Sir, mas magaan ang paa mo ngayon ano? Bili ka ng petroleum jelly para kahit nasa probinsya ka maaalagaan mo ang paa mo..” Sweet. :o) and mean at the same time.