Mary Anne, a school mate, theater sorority sister and simply a
friend of mine was on her way to school on board a multicab (a mini jeepney-type of public
transportation in Cebu, Philippines that can accommodate eight to ten
passengers). She was wearing her university uniform – a white female
dress shirts-type of blouse with V-shaped neck line and an A-line type of navy
blue knee-level skirt. It was just one of those normal weekdays where she heads
off for school in the morning.
A few blocks away from where Mary Anne hopped into the multicab, a
man clad in dark (almost in black shade) decent
dress shirt also got into the multicab and sat beside her. He took the seat at
the left side of my friend. The man looked like he was in his early thirties or
late twenties but he seemed to look older than his average age because of some
darker spots on his neatly trimmed face.
His hair was neatly in place and the dress shirts he is wearing
(it looks like he has a white inner shirt) is also tidily pressed and looks
really presentable. He looks like any respectable man with an office-type of
work. Mary Anne even assumed that he’s a medical representative because of the
type of brown leather suit-case-type of hand bag he’s bringing.
When Mary Anne reached school on General Maxilom Avenue, she just
realized that her big wallet with all her identification cards, ATMs and school
allowances were gone, and to make things worse, she found out that there was a
big tear on the left side of her bag. Later did she realized why the
presentable-looking man in dark and neat dress shirt covered his hands with his
brown hand bag. She also realized that while on the multicab earlier, she felt
slight movements at her left side.
She just ignored the idea of being robbed because she didn’t
suspect a well-dressed man to do such crime. It was very unlikely of a robber
to dress up well, because their usual features are rugged and badly-dressed in
ordinary-looking shirts and faded denim pants.
A simple rule that we should keep in mind, do not judge a person
by the way they look. Sometimes, the security we felt in prejudice is like a
lion dressed in a lamb skin.
2 comments:
I left Cebu six years ago and when I returned for a brief visit, I was told one of the big changes in the city was the growing population of thieves and robbers. My brother was mugged in broad daylight and nearly every house in our village had been entered by thieves. I don't know if this is a fair assessment but I can most certainly say it wasn't like this six years ago.
Thanks for the sharing caustic, I guess it would be safe to say that Cebu was safer in those times where Vigilantes were on the loose. The percentage of theft and robbery really went down that time... Sometimes, I guess it is better to just reawaken those Vigilantes.
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