Picking Gum Wrappers (July 1,2008)

Picking Gum Wrappers
By: Maria Reylan M. Garcia

I leaned my head against the car’s cold and foggy window. Thick drops of rain stricken in ticking unison, smearing the once clear view of fiber glass. The windshield was no match as the heavens continue to wail in hysteria. The road ahead was awfully misty. Wherever I look, left or right, the sidewalk became refuge to muddy pink pigs and soaked clothes bundled inside basins. As the radio narrated the sorry site, my ears could only deafen itself and cease to hear that Iloilo is now in a state of calamity. Murky water paid a visit inside helpless homes and decided to linger for a while. Ruthless winds swept away more than roofs and billboard frames; gone were the dreams, hopes and lives of the unfortunate, trapped in a twister of calamities. Children flooded the streets with the sound of their shaking plastic containers, asking for some coins to spare from passing vehicles.

A few weeks ago, the province of Iloilo paused from its usual soft melodic whispers and drumbeating chants of cheer. I used to watch these scenarios in documentaries or read about them in newspapers and then cry a bucketful. But, seeing these upfront, seeing roofless homes, seeing mothers and children soaked in murky water; my tears wouldn’t be enough to wash the muddy water off their feet. I sighed because our ceiling leaks, several others sighed because half of their homes are submerged in water. I clamored because I couldn’t type my homework and print it due to a five-day power failure; several others clamored because their schools are used as evacuation centers. I felt lonely because I couldn’t do much at home but bore myself because classes are suspended, several others felt lonely because they couldn’t do much after seeing someone they love, lifeless and cold.

There’s no one to be blamed with what had happened rather than our selves. We are the menacing culprits and the hopeless victims at the same time. Who clogged the drainage systems with unthinkable amount of wastes, but we? Who caused the flash floods because of troublesome illegal logging, but we? Who refused to vacate out of possible calamity sites because of downright pride, but we? Nature has long been here before we did, and could long exist without us. It is too ideal for me to dream of a society where everyone cares to be advocates of the environment. As we are all seeking for progress, for high rise buildings and towering flyovers, it is expected that due sacrifices were undertaken. I guess all we could practically do right now is to clean up the mess. Let’s go away with pride for a while. We haven’t seen anything yet. There’s certainly more to come.

This may be a cliché and be nothing more than redundant, but the situation calls for it to be stated once more, save the environment. The other day, I was sitting on the same bench as the doting mother, sharing headliner gossips with her friends while her child was running back and forth along the pavement. I admit, I was quite annoyed with her unusual snorts and distracting laughs. I would have planned to leave and be at peace on my own, but in doing so I wouldn’t have witnessed a simple message of hope that my idealistic mind have longed to see. The child stepped on a piece of gum wrapper, paused for a while, ignored it and went on with her careless running. The mother who was able to see what had happened, willingly excused herself from an engrossed conversation and called her child’s attention. She asked her child to pick the piece of gum wrapper up and throw it inside the trash can. The child, at first, refused and reasoned out that it didn’t belong to her. I smiled after hearing these words. The mother said, “Ta, sige lang miskan indi na imo, puluta lang.” (My dear, even if it doesn’t belong to you, still, pick it up.). Let us not limit ourselves to picking pieces of gum wrappers on the streets, let us tell others to pick them up as well. Our growing society needs utmost education, we need not only to plant trees, but also to plant love and concern in the hearts of the many.

I leaned my head against the car’s cold and foggy window. Although what I saw were above all pitiful, there were some untainted smiles of hope that after the end of the rain, a rainbow will surely be somewhere near.

Let us not let the same thing happen again.
It all starts with picking gum wrappers.
Even if it isn’t yours.