ONE of the more annoying things to watch in this Impeachment Trial of Sara Duterte is her defense counsel’s propensity to say ‘yeah’ instead of ‘yes.’
Call me old, but I just feel that it’s a very informal manner of speaking, which has no place in a court-at the Senate, no less! The defense counsel isn’t just drinking an overpriced beverage in a popular coffee chain and gossipping with her friends.
Thus, I fully endorse the prosecution lawyer giving her a spanking.
But I suppose this is what’s wrong with most people these days. And I’m not just talking about our youth as there are also older people whom I see almost daily, living a very casual, flip-flop (and I mean the tsinelas) existence.
This was worsened by the 2.5 years we had to lock ourselves at home due to the Covid pandemic. We worked and did our video, online meetings in our pambahay, pajamas, and house slippers.
Many of us seem to have forgotten that the pandemic is now over, and we have to return to our official lives, where a more formal manner of speaking, clothing, and overall demeanor is demanded.
I don’t think I’m being a snob, when I say it bothers me that whether it’s summer or the rainy season, people walk around in thonged rubber slippers everywhere. To the mall, to restaurants, to their doctor’s office, to hotels, hospitals-anywhere except the beach, it seems.
I don’t care that your flip-flops cost over P1,000, pamatay pa din ‘yan ng flying ipis, as my former STC classmate and media colleague Jessica Zafra used to say. Since the early 2000s, when high-priced brands of rubber flip-flops were introduced in the country, these tsinelas keep being used like the official outside-the-house footwear.
What’s worse, in the malls, visitors wearing these flip-flops will sit on benches watching videos on their mobile phones, lift a foot, then finangle their toes with the fingers of their free hand, as if they’re just seated on their living room sofa. Yuck.
I recognize that there are people from lower-income classes, who may only own a pair of flip-flops to wear inside or outside their homes. But I refer here to wealthier mallgoers, lugging shopping bags, putting up their unshod feet for the world to see.
The same is true at church. One sits at the bench and right beside you, a churchgoer will remove her sandals, then rest her bare feet on the kneeler. Similarly, parents will let their children run and shout willy-nilly at Mass, even when the priest has started his Homily. (I wish Church-minders strictly enforce the use of family rooms for parents and their toddlers. These rooms exist so other churchgoers are not disturbed by boisterous children.)
Some shoppers also have the temerity to bring their dogs, who subsequently relieve themselves on the mall floors, like they do in one corner of their furparents’ homes. Not the pet’s fault of course-they do what is natural to them-but far too many furparents are able to get away with not keeping their animal babies in diapers, despite polite requests by malls and other similar establishments through visible signs at their entrances.
At movie theaters, people talk way too much. We’ve all experienced this. One person will keep asking her seatmate what’s happening on the screen, especially if the movie is a sequel. (Think Avengers: Doomsday and the 21 theater releases before that! Mahaba-haba na kwentuhan ‘yan.) I must admit, on a few occasions, I’ve had to call the attention of these noisy people in the audience to STFU. Nicely, of course, unless they continue their rowdy behavior.
At another time, also at the cinema, a woman was seated beside me, and she kept looking at her phone, as if checking her messages, or perhaps waiting for a phone call. Again, as if she was just at home, watching a film on her streaming subscription.
Madam! Kindly hide the phone in your bag if you want to sneak a look at your SMS, so the light on your screen doesn’t bother the rest of us. Or better yet, sit out the movie and go to a cafe instead to read your messages or wait for your so-important phone call.
billboards do the job socmed
Perhaps what I’m really asking for is not old-fashioned etiquette but some amount of consideration.
We share public spaces. And the fact that we are free to dress, speak, eat, scroll, or behave as we please does not mean we shouldn’t care about how our behavior affects everyone around us.
There is nothing wrong with being comfortable. I enjoy my pambahay and tsinelas as much as anyone-when I’m at home. But there is a time and place for everything, as Mama used to say.
A courtroom calls for decorum. A church calls for reverence. A restaurant calls for a little civility. A movie theater calls for silence. And a shopping mall, definitely, isn’t an extension of our sala.
Perhaps we need to remember that how we comport ourselves in public is not about being sosyal, rich, or trying to impress other people. It is about acknowledging that we are not alone. Our comfort should not come at the expense of another person’s peace, concentration, or dignity.
Be sensitive and respectful towards others. That’s all I ask, really.