1. WRONG ORDER
2. Roughly 2 decades ago, I was inside our car, happily eating potato chips nung may batang kumatok sa bintana namin na nanglilimos. He looked really thin. I didn’t have money then so I just decided to give him what was remaining of my snack.
3. One of my companions told me, "Ano ka, bayani? Kinakain mo pa yun a, bakit mo binigay?"
4. This moment stuck with me, because I never really thought of it as a sacrificial thing. Di ko naman inisip na big deal ‘yun. It was simple - I saw a person in need, and I knew na makakakain pa naman ako uli ng Pringles na yun, so I gave what I had.
5. I remembered this childhood experience because of a recent encounter..
6. --
7. The other day, we were dining at a cafe and the waitress got my order wrong. Sure kami na mali talaga kasi malayo sa actual order ko, but she kept insisting that she's right and na nag-"repeat order" daw siya at na kami daw ‘yung mali. Pero sure na sure kami na tama ‘yung sinabi namin, at hindi siya nag-“repeat order." Besides, ang layo talaga nung name ng inorder ko sa kung anong nabanggit niya.
8. Anyway, I could have easily fought back and let her or the restaurant worry about the cost. It was her mistake, anyway. That seemed fair.
9. But as we were arguing and debating on who was right, I asked her.. "Mababawas sa sweldo mo 'to 'no kapag hindi namin tinanggap?" She said yes and sounded very worried.
10. So I made the decision to just accept the food (for takeout) and asked her to have my actual correct order placed as additional.
11. Tinanong ako ng friends ko kung bakit ko tinanggap? Bakit daw ako nag-give in eh ako naman daw ‘yung tama?
12. Napaisip rin ako.. Bakit nga ba? Hahaha. Technically hindi ko naman talaga dapat kinailangan bayaran ‘yun.
13. But you see, empathy is a huge value of mine, and I always try to put myself in other people's shoes.
14. Naisip ko.. "This Php xxx, hindi masyadong maliit na halaga, pero alam kong mas madali kong mapapalitan kesa sa kanya. Baka rin kasi para sa kanya, ‘yung halaga na ‘yun ay pang-kain na nila sa buong araw o pambili ng gamot."
15. ?? It's not always about being "right” especially when we live in an unjust world. What seems “fair” may not actually be so in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes, compassion, empathy, and kindness are what's needed.
16. Just to make sure that she learns from the experience, though, I talked to the manager, explained what happened and advised na mapagsabihan 'yung waitress para hindi na maulit. What was not fair was she didn't admit to the mistake - and so I hope the manager would be able to train her well. Lalo na because her next customer might not be as forgiving.
17. In any case, I just tried to understand and figured she was already tired that day.
18. To me, it's not about being a "good samaritan." I don't think there's anything na katawag-tawag na “heroic" whenever we try to give way to others.
19. ? I think it's the bare minimum we have to do as humans - to be compassionate towards each other.
20. Always try to put yourself in other people's shoes.
21. I really believe that if more people had more empathy, the world would be a better place. ??