Good Morning, Here's Some Bad News

 

     Sad, worrying news immediately reached me the moment I opened my eyes and yawned this morning, a Monday, the start of a new week.

     My cell phone beeped on the table beside me, I grabbed it, and saw that Globe, my only regular text mate, texted me to remind me that my balance is already at a precarious 1 peso, starting a small avalanche of not-so-pleasant news.

     Bad news to all, Delta variant of coronavirus, deemed to be deadlier and more transmissible, is raging in some countries and has also been detected here in the Philippines, and there are reports (unverified though) that some vaccines, including Sinovac, which first dose is currently swimming inside my body, won’t work against it. Primary symptoms of this variant are headache, fever and runny nose. Endless variants and mutations, maybe, a lot of people are right in predicting that this virus is really the one that will end the world.

     A personal setback, we’ve been trying to sell our house here in Manila, and we already have a serious buyer (they voluntary made a reservation fee so we will stop talking to other buyers), the problem is, we don’t own the lot and we heard that there are now infighting within the owners of the lot (regarding our lot and other pieces of land they inherited) and some sabotage are being done so the lots won’t be sold. Greed, if you’re not aware, is placed second in the hierarchy of the Seven Deadly Sins.

     A brewing personal financial trouble, our energetic dog’s—a two-month old Beagle— appetite is getting bigger by the day, and his food is certainly not inexpensive. Every time he finishes the food we serve him, he’d sit and stare at you with those beseeching cute eyes, giving you hints to give him more and a threat of a game-of-fetch-free day if you won’t. And if those eyes won’t do the trick, he’d come close to you and lick you.

     Bad news to Los Angeles Clippers fans like me, the team lost to Phoenix Sun in the first game of their NBA Western Conference finals, and Kawhi Leonard is still injured and can’t play.

     A little heartbreaker for Nirvana fans, I saw an article on FB saying that their song “Polly” (which a lot of people thought was just a harmless, whimsical song about a parrot) is based on a real-life tragedy: the abduction, rape and torture of a 14-year old girl by a man ironically named Gerald Friend.

     Potentially tragic news for Pinoys, Sara Duterte, daughter of President Duterte, the one who believes that honesty is not necessary for public officials, is bent, it seems, on running for president, and furthering the destruction of our country.

     Here’s I think is a bit of good news to unrequited hopeless romantics, an oft-repeated Sarcasm meme appeared again on my News Feed this morning saying that a sign that somebody really, truly, undoubtedly, absolutely, unquestionably, madly loves you is this somebody blocking you on Facebook. Facebook blocking, some commenters agree, is a powerful message. It’s like someone pressing the button to release a nuclear bomb; you can’t ignore it no matter what you do. It is supposed to unnerve you, madden you and then melt you. You just don’t block a person, they add.

     Hmmnn.

     Some food for thought for people who always take things at face value.

     And now, my friend’s eyes here, beside me, are twinkling, as he has been blocked thrice by his crush and has already called the cops on him and has reported him to the barangay—I wanted to tell him that his is probably a different case, but I don’t have the heart.

     The bad news is Sarcasm is a humor website/FB page, which is unforgiving with its jokes and, well, sarcasm.