"May Bomba Ka Ba?"

I was at the mall yesterday and met up with my older sister, nieces, mom and dad. It was one of those rare “free” days and like any self-respecting “young” (young adults, by definition, are between the ages of 18 and 40, so unless you’re in your 40’s, you are still young by society’s norm) professional, I traded off my usual cotton collared shirts and slacks for tattered jeans and an old T-shirt, and I didn’t comb my hair coz I was already running late. As I went inside, I forgot to have my small wrap-around bag checked for any incendiary device (do the security guards really know what they’re looking for?) and walked past the men in uniform. Syempre, I got pulled back (gentle tug lang naman on my shoulders) and one of them said, “Boy, yung bag mo!” Did I hear it right? Did my ears deceive me? Did he just call me “boy?” Of course, it could've meant a lot of things. For all I know, he might have thought that I was a male helper. Or a call boy. Whatever. But I’ve been so used to being called “sir” or “doc”, that hearing someone call me “boy” was like music to my ears. Moments like that don’t come often so I soaked it all up! Weird as it may sound, it certainly made my day. Haha!

I actually had a nice chat with a friend of mine in the US and according to him, most Asians really look younger than their white counterparts. He and I, and the rest of the mongrels in this country, though, are not as lucky. We do tend to look older than most people our age. Add to that the height. And the fact that we’re doctors. Now, everywhere I go, if there’s someone who knows who I am, that person would call me “Doc.” I might as well have my name changed to Doc. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it. But, people, it’s just a title. A job description. Even back when I was still in training, the nurses would call me by my first name, which is something I really wanted. So now, when we’re having fun, can we just scrap the “doc” bit and instead call me… Your Highness? Or Your Excellency! Haha! Okay, I was just messing with you. But you really can call me Arni. Or Arns. Or Ani. Or Tukmol. Or Mokong. Skip the formalities and let’s just be friends hanging out and having fun. But if you’re my student, you can stick to sir. Haha!

I’m thinking of coming up with a list of signs that tell you you’re actually older than your mind leads you to believe. Sige, in my next post, I’ll do just that. Of course, it wouldn’t be all based on my experience. I’ll have my other friends help me with that. Haha! Oh, by the way, this is called a “teaser”. Hehe. Darn, I need to do something more productive than this.

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Note: The photo above was taken from a real newspaper clipping with the following caption: "When the police raided Bob's strip club (the red head in the middle), suspecting it of being a front for drug operations, they used a special kind of weapon. It was like a stun grenade, except that everybody in the blast radius got swapped with someone of the opposite gender. Thus, Bob and his henchmen found themselves being escorted into custody in the bodies of various strippers employed by the club. As you can see, all are pretty pissed off about it - all except Joey, on the left, who's never been happier in his life, and can't wait to be allowed to put his hands down.

Haha! Crazy world...