The Torpe Road Aftermath

It has been less than 3 weeks since I’ve finished my “The Torpe Road” series and I was glad it was over. Looking at my track record of making something, I have the tendency na hindi tapusin yung nasimulan ko. With that said, I was really happy to tell my story to the world and all the reactions I have gotten. There were times na nagugulat ako sa sarili ko at kaya kong magsulat ng isang passionate na blog post. Here are some of the quotes that I received from those who have read it:

“Ayos tong story mo man. I actually read the whole thing”

“nice blog dude”

“nice one”

“detalyado masyado nakalagay”

“thanks for the memories (teary eyed) hahaha...”

“nabasa ko blog mo. Maganda…”

“im now a fan…”

“ayos yung blog mo na the Torpe Road a”

“ok naman nakakarelate ...dapat sayo mag DJ kanalang pare se

ryoso“

“naalala ko ata lahat yan lol”

“kinda maganda”

“damn it! where is the like button? *fist bump

And of course I would get this:

“masyadong mahaba”

Lazy cretins.

One of most thought-provoking reactions that I got is from a friend on the office. She said that I seemed pretty proud for telling my story sa mga niligawan ko, that I seemed to embrace my failures and that the “The Torpe Road Series” exposed my personality more. Hey, without knowing your failures and learning from it, you wouldn’t get far. Hats off to her.

Anyway, what surprised me is I received violent reactions from the people I have written about 9 months after I have posted my story. At sila pa yung di ko ine-expect na magre-react (in fact, I was just expecting one). Alam ko naman na me mag-rereact, di ko lang inasahan na ganito katagal. Just shows how today’s generation got lazy and would prefer to watch the movie adaptation instead of reading the actual novel. That, and also walang magbabasa ng blog mo kung di mo binanggit ang isang kakilala mo, na ikwekwento ng kakilala nya, and so on and so forth.And the reactions from these people that they’ve posted are something else. I read them and kita mo na me pinaghuhugutan, na she didn’t like me ever since. And the other one misinterpreted my story on her. Kids today. Sheesh.

I felt it is proper to make a post on my blog to have my say on what they’ve said to me, ‘coz some of them are sorta low-blow. So what I’ll do is show to you people what they’ve said, and then explain more clearly my opinion and what they should understood…

Read this post first here, then get back here...

“For the record, kaya hindi ako nagpaligaw sayo kasi obvious ang desperation mong mgka-gf! My Gad! Sa sobrang desperate, pumasok ka sa callcenter kasi alam mo na dun madami chicks, madaming bading, konti lalaki. may 90% chance ka talaga mgka-gf dun! Yakang-yaka naman ang [my name]. Wag mag-feeling! (uunahan ko na, hindi ko nilalahat ang callcenter, karamihan lang!)“

See? Talagang me pinaghuhugutan. While she may be true that I was kinda desperate sa pagliligaw sa kanya, my reasons for working in a call center is because I want to get a high-paying job. To quote myself, “I know na medyo malayo sya sa pinag-aralan ko, pero one thing led to another. Besides, I don’t want to be that one guy na 8 buwan na naghahanap ng trabaho na related sa work nya at wala pa ring mahanap, or yung nakahanap nga ng ganung trabaho pero nasa isang environment na paulit-ulit ang tinutugtog na pambatang kanta at walang water dispenser sa pinagta-trabahuhan nila. Believe me, I know some people.” I never knew that the ratio of man to woman is 1:4 not until I was already there.

And by the way, hayop sa english skills ah! very..hmm..artistic? Sa uste mo natutunan?

Back then I was already well-versed in writing and speaking in English. I’ve already been writing blogs in Friendster. And hey, this is art in itself. Art is not limited to just painting strokes on a canvas. Art is, as defined by Merriam-Webster, “skill acquired by experience, study or observation”. A skater doing backflips, a speaker having his stand on pollution and writing a fictitious story is an art form in itself.

Read this post first here, and then get back here…

you do need a permission to use other peoples picture or they can sue you... (so think)

While this can be done, it just would look silly asking for permission to get a photo and that person asking you why, and then telling that person why. It would just complicate things. Di syapractical. It was a calculated risk. And besides, madaming mga Facebook fan page na kumukuha ng photos sa ibang tao, dapat ma-sara na sila kung ganun.

and people who think so low about teaching? what do you know? ...pati profession ko as a teacher tinira mo? ndi kana masaya sa mga pinagsusulat mo, matira mo lng ang isang tao dahil napaka bitter mo, yes we couldn't get that high salary they are paying in your field, but we meet and share life and grow together, I earn respect, love and happiness.

Now I never made fun of her profession as a teacher, what I’ve said was, “she pursued her passion for the arts by becoming an Art teacher at her High School. She had a handful with the students because she is teaching First Year to Fourth Year sections. Siguro kulang sa pera yung Alumni nya to get more teachers.” Clearly I am questioning her Alumni’s budget to get more teachers, and not making fun of Teachers. It just wouldn’t be right because I was also taught by teachers, that’s why I can do Trigonometry and speak in a large group of people.

So there. I had my say, if ever they wouldn’t invite me to any reunions, I’ll respect their decision. But honestly, I could care less, I want to write more and explore the world…

In closing, a colleague comforted me by saying that we are shock artistes, we live for reactions.

- "the king"