Friday the 13th

Today is one of the craziest, if not the craziest, day ever.

So I was to get my first salary tonight, but then I have to attend the baccalaureate mass at school first. Thus, the day started off at the heart of Recto. Yep, my feet touched the surface of FEU once again - something that I did not miss.

We were asked to take our seat 4:12 in the afternoon, in the middle of the quadrangle, under the steamy sweltering sun. Good thing I did not follow the dress code. While everybody was on their well-pressed Sunday dresses, I was on my comfy t-shirt, dirty jeans, and a happy pair of sneakers. Imagine the sweat that would have streamed in my skin if I was on my dress-to-kill attire.

And so the mass lasted for two hours. The homily was long, and the line during the communion was endless. Envision every graduating student, falling in line, towards on direction. All 5,400 of them. The result, an endless row. I could almost not see the person who stands at the back of the line.

By 10:00pm, I have to be in Makati already. 7:23pm, I am still in FEU, waiting for the graduation tickets to be distributed. I was getting anxious that I might not be able to make it to the office anymore. Stream of thoughts on where to get money to survive another week stroked my cognitive system already.

If I remember it right, 7:47pm, I was running towards Isetan to take a bus going to Ayala. 8:01pm, still no signs of any bus. And the pile-up of the vehicles somewhere at Quiapo is heavy. I glanced in the direction of LRT2. The next thing that I realized was I was running like crazy to catch a train heading to Cubao.

The trip was quick. 8:32pm, I was in the Gateway Mall already. Still running, I evaded every people that were on my way. I was smooth. No hits, no bumps. I was as fast as the wind, as fluid as the water. I should be a super hero.

I headed to MRT to catch a train heading to Ayala. I swiped my stored-value ticket, and ran towards the platform. I was sweating like a seven-year-old, only to see the thick mass of passengers heading toward to god-knows-where. I hated them for a moment. But then, there was no time to curse them in my mind. I glanced at EDSA, and I saw the clearing high-way. Without any second thoughts, I rushed downstairs, swiped my stored value ticket, and went down the station.

8:52pm, I was in the bus already. Every breath I took was like a million sighs. There was hardly any traffic or vehicular pile-ups at all. Only pit stops that a bus usually takes. Aside from those, the travel was smooth.

9:23pm, the Peninsula Hotel greeted my eyes. Sighs of relief blatantly came out of my lungs. My heart was finally beating on a normal rate again. My hands were not sweaty anymore. And I was not pressing my feet against the ground any longer.

9:27pm, I was on the 9th floor of the Allied Bank Building. I was finally in the line. The only thing that separated me from my salary was 18 people, who were obviously there for the same objective. I was so proud that I was on time. 33 minutes earlier before the counter closes.

All in all, the rush that I felt tonight was like no other. I was like the new actor in a new Master Card commercial.

After buying a lemon-flavored C2 from Ministop, I thought to myself. Maybe I should join the next season of the Amazing Race.