Are You Tired?

Would it be right if a tricycle driver drops you off in the middle of the road and decides that that’s about how far you can go, because he’s already tired? Would it be right if a food shop manager decides to close before delivering your ordered food because the cook wants to close shop already? Would it be right if your barber decides that the haircut is already done and good even when your hair has not been evenly trimmed, because he has become tired? Would not that count as dishonesty? Would not that count as laziness? Would that not count as selfishness?

Moreover, such sudden suspension would count as complete mockery of justice. Where is truth? Where is justice? Where is service? Shall a cleaner spread a mat over a floor to cover the dirt and stains so we could all pretend that the room has been cleaned, because he’s tired of cleaning? It would not be a service of truth. It would not be a service of justice. It would not be a service to the people. That would be a shameless service of personal convenience. What does the cleaner do afterwards? Collect his fees while the true stains stale the flor away under the mat? If such incidents would happen nowadays, the aggrieved party would probably take it to social media, posting humiliating photos with a lengthy rant, or it would be taken to the barangay hall or to the police station. But what if the subject of the rant are the cops themselves? Could we still take them to the cops?

This is a shameless covering of truth, a brazen declaration of dubious idea as truth so that they could claim rest. How does conscience find rest?

So, you’ve driven some distance, and decide that that has been enough, even though you had not really reached the destination. So, you have decided to turn the stove off and call it a day, when diners still haven’t been served their orders yet. So, you decided to tell the client that the haircut is done, that it actually looks good, even though it’s really crooked at the back, just because you started to yawn. Shall we consider this hard work? Shall we consider this commitment? Shall we esteem this as dedicated service?

Where has public service gone? It looks like this sort of thing is service to personal convenience. Where is the ideal notion and expectation of selfless service? We have an idea of health workers sacrificing their personal well-being for the treatment of patients, and of teachers who would exert efforts of creativity to deliver lessons without physically meeting students. So, what is this? If it were not selflessness, then what do we call it?

So what do you commit your passions to? In withdrawing that large sum of salary every month? So, is that what you work for?

I remember that case of a flight stewardess who mysteriously died in the bath tub, presumably in the nude on New Year’s Eve. Authorities quickly jumped to label the case as rape slay. I remember the PNP Chief of that time, no less, stating that it was clearly a case of rape because of the condition of the victim’s body. So, just because the victim was found in the nude, presumably spread-eagled, in an indecently exposed position, a forced sexual intercourse had occurred? Is this how investigation is executed? How could I be so naïve? I have been watching too many episodes of Crime Scene Investigation and have foolishly supposed that those were state-of-the-art, justified operating procedures in the selfless pursuit of truth to serve justice. I had not realized that those were figments of fantasy. Oh, silly me. In that case, I learned that the events could be determined merely by looking on the appearance of the victim’s body. Now, this is some advanced forensics.

Still on that case, I remember that the victim’s friends were filed with rape and homicide cases, which were dismissed months later for lack of evidence. Who gave us the idea that they were a gang of killers and rapists in the first place? After a long, grueling drive of drama, the supposed suspects were cleared (not after they were publicly judged), and the death had been dismissed as natural. There had been no rape, no homicide. I wonder who gave that idea to the public in the first place? Now, that was some superb investigation.

Are we experiencing a similar incident locally? Are we letting justice out the window for the sake of personal convenience?

“I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.” -Isaiah 1:14