Child's Play

I know I wanted a really festive campaign period, but at what cost?

True enough, the campaign has been heating up and at this point, the COMELEC office is being deluged by complaints from one party about another.

Really, all I wanted to be was lenient so that the school could deviate from the normal, dry elections wherein a big percent of the students would have no idea that elections were indeed going on.

True enough, parties have pulled all the stops to get themselves known. The school is littered with election paraphernalia and parties have started engaging in cute little gimmicks to get themselves noticed.

Since this Monday, the Commissioners and I have been signing more than just your regular poster. We've been signing hundreds of flyers, banners, pins, stamps and cute little giveaways such as these round roller thingies, barbecue sticks, popsicle sticks, ribbons and the like.

We've also been approving campaign gimmicks such as table center pieces, acoustic concerts and even a juice campaign. This party has been doing its homework in terms of marketing.

But then again, how much more can you ask for if the campaign heads for all 3 parties are Comm majors.

Today, one party carried out its juice campaign. They gave out red juice to students. This did not sit well with other parties- they called this campaign "bribery".

Honestly, I feel slighted. How dare they think that the UA&P student is shallow enough to have his vote bought by a cup of free, red juice.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong. Bribery is when the taker of the bribe benefits from what the candidate gives away. But juice?! I think it's very petty to find issue in that.

Parties have also been flooding COMELEC with inquiries and complaints against other parties. I'm starting to forget that the job of COMELEC was to oversee the election and NOT to be a complaints desk.

I've been reading these complaints and am starting to doubt the credulity of the candidates behind these complaints. More than a COMELEC commissioner, I'm starting to feel like a referee in a playground scrap.

Mudslinging, finding fault with other parties rather than concentrating on being the better party. To think that school is a microcosm of the real world. What are we facing now?

We are practicing a democracy here- but its boundaries are being overstepped. People are straying from the ideals that their parties were formed with.

And some people have been taking the campaign downright seriously! More than political, it's morphed into a personal thing!

Elections are supposed to be all about friendly competition. This is so not the way I would have wanted it. This is why there is no question why I've been so uptight these past few days.

Aside from signing hundreds of fliers, I've been dealing with lousy commissioners and rambunctious parties. The end result is that I've totally let myself go- I run around with my hair unruly and ballpen marks on my face.

It was just so nice to take a step back awhile ago and have lunch with Habanapz away from the hustle and bustle of politics. Since Habanapz is a member of a party, we had to eat lunch away from school so as not to draw any unwanted attention. That's how wary I've become. That's how dirty and petty politics can get.

Sad to say, I'm disappointed and John Locke and all great democratic thinkers must be spinning in their graves.

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Watched the ROC playfest last night. Opportunity cost of taking care of COMELEC is giving up the chance to act. God, I miss acting!

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Skirmish

Never again am I going to take my "well-deserved time off" while this campaign period is going on. Ever.

I left school complacent in the thought that this was only the 2nd day of campaign period and there would be no pressing matters that would need my involvment.

In fact, before I left school, I made sure that the things that needed to be taken care of were well under way. Things were running smoothly. I even saw to it that the candidate and campaign rep meeting I organized at 6 wouldn't be needing my immediate presence.

So why is it that when I get to school at 7, one of my commissioners immediately tells me "Bundi, we have problems". uh-oh. That was plural.

And indeed there were problems. One violation against a party, complaints were flying in and one of the candidates is on the verge of getting kicked out.

Damn. I was the one who dealt with the Registrar's Office in certifying the guy's eligibility. I checked the consitution and all rules regarding his candidacy. I just overlooked the school's policy for 2nd Year retention. Great.

And somebody is filing a complaint AGAINST Comelec. According to that person, COMELEC is not impartial. She said that we are siding with one party. Aargh!

And there was a complaint that one party was being sabotaged. And another about banners. And I was talking to a member of the Council, whose party ties are very blatant even if the council is supposed to be impartial. The guy still believes he is correct. He just doesn't get it!

Aw man! I felt so guilty for leaving one of my commissioners to fend for herself that I bought her an iced tea and a pack of Davidoff cigarettes.

In the smoking area, she filled me in on the whole afternoon. An exciting afternoon it was, apparently.

I know I wanted a colorful campaign period, but not this way! It's scary because these parties are composed of students who are relatively young and yet so... political.

They feel so strongly about the politics in school even if when you think about it, the school can run on its own without the help of a student government.

I know I involve myself in COMELEC for the heck of it, but in College, student government is redundant. It is just another organization- a very dominant organization, but just an org all the same.

Without it, the school would be fine. Projects? There are millions of orgs to take care of that. There is no immediate need for a student government because in the end, they are still answerable to the school. They are on the same level as every other org. There is no empowerment to speak of.

So what is the point of everything then? What is the rationale behind feeling so strongly about these things? Why bother with the politics if the only bonus is special parking privileges? Can all this bickering, all this student politics really change the world and make a difference in a way that no other org can?

I have no answer to that and suddenly, the cause whole cause seems so vague, "TH" and shallow.

Passenger Seats

Since I had no more class for the rest of the day, I decided to leave school early for a well-deserved break.

And my drive home has got to be one of the most peaceful, the most relaxing one I've had ever since my dad left.

The reason: no passengers. Not my mom, not my sister. And this means no backseat drivers. And this means no headache for me. It's back to driving alone!

When I was younger, my dad taught me that there is only one driver for the car and that there is no room for backseat drivers. This lesson stuck with me until I was able to drive.

Problem is that my mom is the world's worst backseat driver. She never hesitates to vocalize her opinions on my driving. And it is one of the things that gets me raging on the road.

Now, thing is, how do you tell your own mother to shut the F*@K up? You can't- out of defference to her seniority, or maybe out of respect, it is impossible to tell adults that what they're doing is wrong. And very irritating.

I have a theory that if you watch your, say, baby niece grow up, no matter how old she is, you'll always look at her as the baby that she was years and years ago. Same goes for driving- my mom saw me learn how to drive trial and error until I got the hang of things.

Unfortunately, one, I think she still sees me as a kid (21-year old "baby"? Get real!) and she still sees me as the beginner driver that I was 4 years ago. To compound this fact is that my mom is "nerbyosa". This does not help things in the least.

Admittedly, I become an asshole on the road. I love driving fast, I love pushing the car to its limit, I love the 5th gear and highways. I hate slow drivers, aggressive, arrogant drivers and most forms of public transportation.

I'm also ver aggressive and a hot head on the road. But honestly, I've toned down a lot since mowing down the war veteran last November. I drive much slower and more carefully.

But the slowness of my driving will never be enough for my mom. Last week, she had the gall to ask if I could keep my speed down to 40 kph (better if 30). Excuse me? This is the woman who 2 years ago asked me if I could keep refrain from shifting to 3rd gear because the car would be too fast...

But then again, my mom is out of touch since she does not know how to drive. She spends her time in the car praying, sleeping or reading and is thus ignorant of the dynamics of Philippine driving. That's fine, if she doesn't inflict herself on me.

Just last night, I was turning onto C-5 from Ortigas when this jeep cuts ahead of me. I'm on the right-turn lane and the light is green. The jeep on the other hand is going straight but the light was still red. So the jeep tries to cut in on the lane beside. But the rear area of the jeep is still sticking out into my lane, rendering the whole lane impassable.

Now, the blatant disregard of jeepneys for rules is one of my pet peeves and is enough to get me started. Since I'm a "horn-y" driver, I plant my hand firmly on the horn and blast away (Thank God for those wonderfully boisterous horns from Toyota).

I let out continuous 5-second blasts to show my annoyance. And here is my mom, panicking beside me, asking me to let the driver be. It got to the point where she was holding my hand away from the wheel. This infuriated me all the more.

I am aware that my mom was looking out for my best interests because confrontations between me and jeepney drivers have happened before. But my sense of justice tells me that the jeep was wrong and deserves to be treated in such a manner.

At times, my mom's comments on my driving can be downright hypicritical since if my fast driving serves her, then she doesn't comment at all.

This morning, I was speeding along Sumulong Highway because my mom had an early meeting. She didn't mind that I overtook while taking a curve or if I was really daring. Same thing happens when she's running late for a mass. At times, it is even she who will tell me to cut or to beat a red light. Where's the justice in that?

It's hard dealing with a backseat driver who doesn't know how to drive. But I don't know if that is better that driving for a backseat driver who DOES know how to drive. Someone like my dad.

Backseat drivers who don't know how to drive simply inflict their ignorance on you and this you can choose to ignore.

The backseat drivers who do know how to drive on the other hand will not display ignorance but they will tell you how to drive. And that might be worse.

My dad tells me while parking on a slope, "You make arangkada". What the f---? Not that I'm a 'know-it-all' or anything but I do know how to drive. I've been driving for 4 years now, thank you very much.

Telling me what to do while I'm driving makes me feel like a novice. This also makes me feel that I am being underestimated. And I hate being underestimated!

I am not stupid and I've been operating cars for years. If my dad wanted to give me advice on driving, he should have taught me how to drive and not throw me at A-1 driving school for 20 hours and feel free to lambast the finished product.

Like I always say, if you want a job done well, do it yourself. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

And even if my dad has got a very selective memory, I will always remember that there is absolutely no room in the car for backseat drivers.

There is only one steering wheel, thank you very much.

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The Amazing Race

Click the pic (ey! That rhymes!) for more pics of last Friday's Equatorials.

That's me, Thongy, Fran and Sam. The pic is not reflective of the solemnity of the ceremony

A race. That was what the CAS secreatry called it, referring to our stay in the college. See you at the finish line in June 2005 at the PICC. Those were his exact words.

The Equatorials was a ceremony wherein we "graduate" from 3 years in the College of Arts and Sciences and now officially belong to our majors. The main feature of the ceremony was the laying of the becca/beca, this sash-like thing that is the color of the major.

When we were in CAS (College of Arts and Sciences) it was white. I now am the proud owner of a red becca/beca.

In the ceremony, several of my batch mates were also awarded. There was a sports award, a leadership and service award and an outstanding student award. Things like that. In terms of the race, they were the packleaders.

And yours truly is sadly just another racer, another number, competing along with the pack. Nothing exemplary, nothing extraordinary.

This has always been my frustration. I have always wanted to excel in school. I have always wanted to shine. This desire of mine is something I want for my parents, that they may see some fruit to their (very costly) investment in my education.

But more than that, I want the feeling of achievment. I want to know that I have made a positive contribution in the things I did, or that I'm making a difference somewhere.

I don't want to fade into oblivion as just another person who slaved over papers or who was active in orgs. I don't want to be just another face in the crowd or another student number.

But at the rate things are going, I'm just your orthodox racer. Running along with the rest of them with a few strengths up his sleeve, at times running ahead and at times experiencing major setbacks. Never much of the raceleader.

Not the way I've been performing lately anyway! Last Friday, I had a paper due at 3 p.m. for APS-Japan. When did I do it? Friday morning. Yep, that's definitely the way to go.

I gathered my research by Thursday afternoon and had plans of working during the night. But driving got me so exhausted that I up and fell asleep before I got started. Thus, I was indisposed to run COMELEC come Friday. I had my paper to take care of.

In fact, at some points, I was in panic mode because the diskette of my paper just turned up missing within 2 hours to submission. Thankfully, I didn't have class that day and I was able to submit with 30 minutes to spare.

But the paper isn't as good as I want it to be. It was sub-standard, written as a "last-minute masterpiece" and something I would fail if I were my teacher. Along comes the feeling of knowing it could have been better had I been more responsible with my time.

I was also on a race against time, rushing to condominium in Pasig to get myself ready for the Equatorials. Miracle of miracles, I was back in school within 45 minutes... with the help of a little F1-style driving.

The Equatorials were great. The ceremony was simple and short enough not to be boring. The awardees were well-deserving of their awards.

And I am somewhat fulfilled in the sense that I have been working behind the scenes, and I have something to do with SOMEONE's speech. That made my day.

Being to pooped to work Friday night, I woke up early Saturday morning to work on my Lit report. Needless to say, I blew it big time.

There were no xerox machines availabe Saturday morning so I couldn't have acetates made, I misread the Chapters to be reported on (and thus reported the wrong thing) and I messed up the arrangement of the procession in the Empyrean of Dante's Purgatorio. And my teacher kept on calling me "Joseph", a far cy from my real name!

In any case, I don't think I made a good impression. And in Principles of Marketing, I dozed off due to fatigue. The day was so not going my way.

Also, I was supposed to meet with my on-again-off-again best friend and ex, T. Unfortunately, her mom was rushed to the hospital the previous night and she couldn't make it. I was upset but I couldn't be mad at her. These were circumstances beyond her control and it was as if she wanted a thing like that to happen.

Thank God there was Kenneth to the rescue. We met up in Galleria, with both of us stressed and in need of a movie to watch. For me, school wasn't so great these days and Kenneth was stressed with his work at Unilever.

The choices for a movie were Lupe or The Eye. The Eye was something I was dying to watch since I've been hearing about it for quite awhile and I could never find someone who'd go with me to watch it. It's either people have seen it or were to scared to.

Since it was Lent, Kenneth and I decided for the more wholesome option. So The Eye won over. I was pretty game since I have always been fascinated with the occult and am a sucker for a good scare.

Kenneth on the other hand was one of those people who are affected not in the movie per se, but is haunted by images after. So he "listened" to the movie more than he watched it. I, on the other hand, was watching and half the time describing to him what was going on.

And everytime a scary scene was threatening to come on, we'd both be partially covering our eyes and shouting "Lupeeeee"

On the movie, it was Sixth Sense none the richer. Actually, it was a smorgasbord of different horror movies with a few cheesy (but not so new) twists and a lot of CGI editing. The story though was nothing new. But there were some scenes that were really good and had the audience literally screaming.

I then drove us back to school for a snack along Pearl Drive. While there, I had to sign hundreds of posters for one political party. COMELEC is a bit stringent with its rules and candidates have to have their stuff approved before it being posted.

This was the last party that day to have their stuff approved. Before meeting with Kenneth, I was signing all sorts of stuff at the office- balloons (which they had to blow up), pinwheels, flaglets, posters, stamps and what have you.

It looks as if this year's elections are going to be one of the most colorful and interesting ones that the school has ever seen. And I'm looking forward to it.

With racing with the pack, sometimes I fall behind, sometimes I run ahead. There are times when it sucks, but there are times when I'm having a total blast.

Considering the past 3 days, with all I've gone through and with the friends I've got (fellow racers), I get to see the logic in the saying that it is not the destination but the journey that counts.

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