An Amazing Watch Repairman

                By Vic Odarve

As the grand wedding of my beloved daughter was approaching, I was passionate about wearing the old, treasured luxury wristwatch during the festive occasion. But it had a problem. Sometimes the watch second-hand moved forward erratically and ticks back and forth in one spot. Hence, I promptly decided to refer to a watch repair shop inside the mall and surprisingly, the charge for repair was P2700.00 excluding charges on parts to be replaced, if any. Because of short of budget, I instantly decided to be back on the other day. 

Watch Repair Shop

While going home and walking along the narrow aisles in the San Pedro Street, I passed by a glass shelf a meter wide with a flipped over the paper sign, “Watch Repair”. Just for curiosity and after a brief discussion with watch repairman, I asked,” How much is the charge for this watch to repair?”. Repairman Mando modestly replied, “Five hundred pesos, Sir. “Without hesitation, I handed my watch and curiously did an eagle eye how he carried out the repair. Astonishingly, he completed the job in an hour! As anticipated, Mando assured a warranty of 6 months.

Even after a year since repaired the watch worked perfectly without any specific problem. But the historical memory of Lando, wearing slippers, short pants and sleeveless shirt, and his small watch repair shop and the savings entailed on the repair cost of my wristwatch always haunting my memory. And he has been on this local business for 15 years. This business traditionally supported his family in making both ends meet. Unlike watch repair shop on the local mall where customers queued, this shop along this street sidewalk seldom had a customer! Since then, the picture still fresh in my memory.

Mando residential house

 Not long ago, our neighbor requested my help to seek a buyer for her house and lot located just a few meters from my residence. She planned to leave and join to her son living in Canada. To seek a prospective buyer, we posted in Facebook marketplace,” For sale house and lot for P2.9 million. Direct buyers only.”

A day later, a man came and visited the house and lot and keenly interested to buy. To my surprise, he was Lando, a watch repairman who did the job of my watch a year ago along the sidewalk of the San Pedro Street. Completely dumbfounded, I thought to myself ‘this watch repairman is a silent millionaire!’

Overtime, I learned that he lived just a block away with a three-story house worth around P5million. When I asked him what he should do with this house, he just merely says, “just reserve for the future once we grow old.”

His respond sounds good but pierced to my heart. Nowadays, even engineers and OFW’s have no millions of pesos in saving at hand.

San Pedro St, Davao City

And so, it is with life…As most people say that you cannot judge a book by its cover. It is baffling to believe a sidewalk watch repairman, who at your first meeting looks pitiful like most of the street vendors where having a difficulty in meeting both ends. How he did a saving and owned a house to such extent mystified me. It is possible that this guy won a lottery or conceivably had a wealthy aunt that died and left him millions of pesos. Nobody knows!

He is indeed an amazing watch repairman.

 

The Man Who Dreamed to Have a Tall Children

            By Vic Odarve

“If I will marry her, our son or daughter would be like us…small and dwarf like”, retorted Dodong who stands 4’11” when his fellow workers hinted that they are compatible and really meant for each other with office mate named Gingging. Gingging is a petite and at the same height with Dodong. Since they are of almost the same age of early thirties and still singles, their office mates dearly wanted them to settle down. Though somewhat like a mild joke and nonsense in the beginning but later becomes irritable to their ears. And as days on, his insightful comment sparked like a wildfire in the local office.

PICOP, Bislig, Surigao del Sur

Dodong and Gingging were both engineers by chosen profession. True, as Gingging was petite and Dodong was also small and short guy, their possible offspring might be as short like them. In fact, Dodong’s aware parent earnestly advised him to marry a girl taller than him. Because of the matching joke that they were really meant for each other, they intentionally tried to carefully avoid meeting in the office.

The working environment seemed hostile to them. The words compatible or meant to each other was irritable to their ears. However, they managed to restrain each other though the girl sometimes seemed a feeling of hatred toward him.

Unexpectedly, few years later, the plant ceased its operation due to labor unrest between the management and the labor union. The company’s local operation collapsed like the house of cards. All the employees had to pack their belongings and sought a job elsewhere. As jobs opening were scarce in our country, most of them had secured jobs in the middle east. Since then, the closure disrupted their communication among friends.

PICOP Technical Services

Many years had passed, and lately the pandemic covid-19 spread around the globe. OFW’s were returning home as most of their overseas operations stopped.

Two of their friends from the Middle East due to pandemic returned home, for good. While the two were at the hotel counter desk waiting for the receptionist, they had learned that the establishment was owned and managed by Dodong and Gingging. “Madam, can we talk to Dodong or Gingging? Just tell them their friends are here,” they requested the woman receptionist.

A moment later, genuinely shocked, and surprised, Dodong saw them at a distance in a toothy smile. Like before as friends in a previous company, he instantly threw his arms around their necks and said,” How are you then my friends? It’s long time, no see.” “We are fine,” the two said with a pleasant smile. 

Pinoy OFWs

And while dining they laughed and happily reminisced about their past the time they were working in a plywood and paper company. When asked how their love blossomed after the company’s closure, he simply said, “You know friends - life is full of imperfect things... & imperfect people. Even my parents reasonably objected the idea of promptly marrying her simply because we too are small and short. But with our constant communication, we fell in love and got married, “said Dodong. A burst of laughter naturally followed.

As we checked out, Dodong, Gingging, and their only daughter assisted us in our belonging to a taxicab waiting nearby. The family, as cute as they were, portrayed as what their parents and friends expected while we worked together in a plywood and paper company.

Now when I see this modern hotel and restaurant near the overpass of Farmer’s Market in Quezon city, I always remember Dodong and Gingging and their sole daughter…an attractive and petite lady.

Precisely, as what Dodong had dreamed before of having a tall child remained a dream!

The Crying Child

           By Vic Odarve

A young couple with a year-old baby moved into a new neighborhood. Living next to their house, was also a senior couple with their clever looking dog as their security guard during nighttime. This senior couple seemed regret to have them as neighbor since the arrival of this young couple, their child is constantly crying during night sleeping hours and eventually disturbed and awakened them and some of their neighborhood from their sleep.

The crying child

 That being in their senior’s stage, the crying really disturbed the rhythm on their sleeping habit. Then the wife said angrily to her husband, “That young couple does not know how to keep their child from crying during night time; what they should have done is merely have to keep ready the prepared milk bottle and give it at the moment the child tend to wake up from slumber. Perhaps they need parental seminar and guidance.”

Her husband looked to his wife and said, “Just keep quiet, you might be heard.” But the wife was unhappy and disturbed. Then she added,” When will be this crying in the middle of the night be stopped? For us seniors, once awakened, it is difficult to go back to sleep anymore.” But the husband did not respond.

Oftentimes since she lacks sleep, she would weep with sorrow, regret, despair, and misery over their new neighbor. Every time the wife heard the child crying in the middle of the night and disturbed their sleeping, she said to her husband with the same comments.

Senior couple with a pet dog

 Then one day, their pet dog that used to guard their house and bark the intruders during nighttime was found dead due to snake bite. This aggravated her problems. Because of this, she was greatly depressed and devastated. The dog helped to scare off threats from intruders during nighttime. “Oh my God, nobody will alarm us at deep of the night if somebody enters our premises.”

A week later, the wife observed that the baby crying at nights and early morning disappeared. She thanked God for they can sleep well as they used before.

One early morning, the wife said to her husband, “Look, did you observe something over the baby crying in our new neighbor? The baby is no longer crying. We can sleep well till morning. They finally learned how to control their child behavior correctly. I wonder who taught them.”

Once disturbed, seniors have difficulty in going back to sleep

 One Sunday, as she was walking in their backyard to refresh herself after the church activities, suddenly she saw the young couple walking with a child.” How is your baby? I have not heard this baby crying during night anymore,” she said. The young couple said,” Sorry madam for the noise. Your dog barks a lot at midnight where most people are coming home from nightshift works and daybreak when people go to the market. That dog barking distracted the child from sleeping and once awakened, we had difficulty controlling the child from crying.” Upon discerning this, the wife was stunned and could not believe. The dog barking indeed affected the child sleeping. She felt guilty!

And so, it is with life… Hence, don’t be too quick to judge others. Judging your neighbors does not define who they are. It defines who you are.

Today, every time she heard a baby crying during sleeping hours, she remembered the crying baby and the young couple that once upon a time became a part of their neighborhood.