Things you learn from a Jologs Mall

I had another looong day last saturday. My day started out at 8am and had a barrage of errands right until the evening which I spent celebrating a very dear friends birthday.

For lunch I went to my favorite mall, MCS (Makati Cinema Square) , It was once a premiere mall back in the 80's but is now converted to a tiangge type mall like the old virra mall. Its the haven for Piracy in Makati(rhyme yon ah). People from all walks of life, workers, diplomats, foreigners,actors I see in that mall to buy all sorts of stuff.

Anyway I'm blogging about this new "learning" I had , as usual my suki dvd seller opened late so I had to waste time walking around MCS looking around for new stuff. Walking around mcs gives you an idea of whats "in" in the underground economy. I sadly found out that my favorite tapa place, celestial cafe had closed down, then walking around I saw a group of blind guys offering massage for mallgoers.

It was P80 for a half body massage, 200 for whole body. They were situated under that stairs that lead to the bowling alley. They had 4 monobloc seats , and 3 blind guys to do the massage. I figured, why not try it, they supposedly have heightened sense of touch which in theory make them better masseuse. I asked one of the guys for a half body massage, he said sure, I should take a seat, he felt around for the chair which was placed on the other side of the area, so he maneuvered his way pass a metal pole, a customer being massaged then placed the seat near the railing. I was surprised how well he navigated. I sat down, he started with the massage, and my theory proved right , the massage was quite good. You see , a very important aspect of a good massage is knowing the correct pressure to apply as it differs per person, this guy knew what he was doing. The guys would kid around like the way barbers do, only difference, they were blind. Malakas sila magasaran rin, and inaalaska nila yung guide/cashier nila. Plus they even had a korean or maybe Japanese guy going there for a massage. I guess they were used to having foreigners as customers.

While they were talking , they chatted about how many customers they had for the day. My masseuse said he had 2, the guy beside us had 1, then the last guy said he hasn't had one. My masseuse said, "ay ganun akala ko nagpamasahe sa yo yung babae na kasama nitong customer nya" , pointing to the guy beside us. He said he heard the chair move and the lady sat down. What he didnt know was that the lady only sat down to rest and wait for her husband. He said "nakatayo ka lang pala dyan kala ko nagmamasahe ka, sana sayo ko nalang pinamasahe si sir" pointing to me. I was partly getting sleepy from the massage when it suddenly hit me, this little confusion they had was so simple, they were just in a 5x5 meter space, magkakatabi lang sila pero dahil di nga nila nakikita ang isat isa ,nagkalituhan. I figured, this wouldnt had happen of course with "normal" folks, but because of their handicap it did. They didnt make a fuss about it , they laughed it off and took it in stride. At first I thought , kawawa naman kasi umalis para kumain yung guide nila so hindi nadistribute ang customers, but for them it was just normal, a simple oops , maybe one of the things they had come to accept or used to happening . Then I realized that there are so many things we take for granted , the simple act of knowing what your friend is doing 2 meters away from you is something the guys was not able to do. After the massage I walked around trying to be doubly observant of the things happening around. I ended the massage with a relaxed feeling and a renewed appreciation of the different things I see and experience as the simple act of experiencing something with all senses is something the 3 guys could not do, But I bet whenever they experience something with the other 4 senses, there appreciation and sensitivity to it is much much more than most people..

I remember some friends of mine who would rather stay home than go out and experience/see new things, they should not miss the chance to do so ,as now from the 30min massage I had, I learned we should not take it for granted.

I also learned about how normalcy would always settle in people, like the 3 guys joking around , working and laughing as they work. I myself could not fathom how it would be like to lose my sight, but the 3 guys continued living and enjoying life without seeing. They found color in life while in darkness.