“IF I lay here/If I just lay here/Would you lie with me/And just forget the world?” And with these words, I thee wed. Ah. Hehe. I had a million and one things to do on Wednesday night upon arriving home but there I was, watching a Pinoy movie. I was looking at the time, it was past 9 p.m., then 10 p.m., 11 p.m., and the movie wasn’t over yet. How to meet all the deadlines that were looming like dark heavy clouds above my head if the only thing I could focus on was this movie? O my gas. We are expected to be kind, generous, thoughtful, responsible, and to meet deadlines. If only we could create a clone of our fatty self, then people’s expectations of us will all be met. But there’s only one Netnet, and there are times when all I wanna do is tickle the “Clumsy Ninja.” If I didn’t have time to read before, the more I have no time to read now. A friend, who recently resigned for health reasons, left Cagayan de Oro and gave me all his crossword puzzle books. I was like, Can I even find the time to finish at least one? Next year, though, once the sked has eased a bit, I can go back to reading and, OK, answering crossword puzzles. I was in high school when my mother told me a very long story. To make that story short, it went like this: Net, you’re the eldest, therefore you should take care of your younger siblings. When you’re 13 and that’s what you’re hearing from your own mother, you’d of course want to beg, May I enjoy life like a 13-year-old instead of, hmmm, a 31-year-old spinster? But we don’t question the responsibilities that are heaped on our shoulders once we’ve accepted them. I do wonder if I’ve fulfilled the promises that I made to Mama. We haven’t built the bahay kubo yet, and that dream may have to wait for a long time. I keep looking at the property across the street and that’s how I caught the next door neighbor’s construction workers dumping their garbage there, a pile that already covered about five square meters by the time I noticed it. Hmmm. Blessing in disguise? We prefer to wait for that perfect moment before accepting one more responsibility to fill up our sked. Wait till we have that house, or car, or career, then we can tackle another role in our multi-tasking life. But there are times when we’re trapped in one corner and the only way to survive there is to say yes. That’s what happened to me months ago. It was supposed to be a happy occasion but it soon turned sour for me the moment I realized I’d be busy for a year in a role that I didn’t want nor need. I was planning to accept that role two years from now when my, uh, situation has improved and I could finally concentrate on other things. But I ended up thinking, Sige na nga, para mahuman na. I got tired of saying no. Like any other endeavor, it’s again one day at a time. In other words, if today is not enough, there’s still tomorrow. Haha. Which should be the mantra also of politicians who, unlike me, are too eager to become president. Most probably because they have a huge national treasury to work with if ever they’ll win. Power has its perks. For example, the younger sister of a politician can make all the senseless noise on TV and yet the TV network she belongs to would always forgive her. When she threatened to leave the country before, her threat was met with a most unexpected reaction: Pinoys celebrated. Recently, she threatened to stay abroad again, and Pinoys considered that as a treat. And power can be handed down from generation to generation as long as the anti-political dynasty bill doesn’t morph into a law. Guess who’s against that bill? Mr. Frozen’s senator-daughter of course. “Para kasi sa amin mas important is the will of the people, di ba? We subject ourselves to an election process. So ang number one din na kailangan is to ensure a clean and honest election,” she said. And even professions can be handed down from generation to generation as revealed further by his senator-daughter who added, “Why limit yung choices ng mga botante just because we share the same last name. Unang-una, di ba may pamilya ng doktor, may pamilya ng lawyers, in fact, paulit-ulit ko ngang sinasabi din na, at least, ikaw kung gusto mong maging doktor katulad ng magulang mo, all you have to do is take a course, and then pass the board or bar, pwede ka nang magpractice ng profession, whether doctor or lawyer.” Imagine Mr. Frozen and his family talking during dinner. Imagine Mr. Frozen eating kamayan style. Imagine his senator-daughter justifying their family’s octopus-like hold on the government by saying, “Ang mas nakakabahala sa akin, kung natatandaan ninyo, may lumabas na news story na apparently this family na halos ilan silang appointed to very important positions... Ako, mas nakakabahala yun more than yung sitwasyon namin. Kasi kami in the end of the day, pag ayaw sa amin ng taumbayan hindi naman kami mahahalal.” Oo nga, ‘no? Unless there was a “Hello, Garci” that made them win despite the suspicion that ayaw sa kanila ng taumbayan. Her family has proven that blood is indeed thicker than water, and then they may sing, “We’ll do it all/Everything/On our own.” But will they be strong enough to declare, “We don’t need/Anything/Or anyone”? For now, they can chase that guy called Mar unless it’s the latter who’s chasing after Mr. Frozen’s ratings in the surveys.