Old Skul (01/06/09)

Old Skul
By: Maria Reylan M. Garcia

A true noypi wouldn't be caught dead without a cell phone. Yes, he doesn't care whether he can barely eat three times a day as long as he could squeeze his number for a 24-hour period of unlimited text messaging. This noypi, the lean mean non-stop texting machine, may be the primary reason why his country was informally dubbed as the texting capital of the world. I believe the noypi may have immortalized the fad of text messaging, that owning a cellular phone, regardless of the brand or model, has been a requirement and integrated in his culture. It wasn't long until English teachers became alarmed of the apparent conception and birth of a new language, the Txt language. 160 characters equals one peso, this may primarily explain why the noypi relied on shortcuts; the reason why we would ask wer na u? and get the reply coming na me. At first glance, it appears practical and reminiscent of the old telegram we were once used to, but the Txt language is just one of the several mirrors reflecting the noypi's habit of using shortcuts.

I always thought that shortcuts were just applicable for out of town road trips and in troubleshooting lagging computers with ctrl + alt + delete. But it seems shortcuts progressed into a unique profession of fixing, not with broken pipes or rusty appliances, but with processing documents especially on government offices, those shortcut advocates called fixers. A noypi, on one of his occasional Juan-tamad syndrome attacks would pay a fixer a certain amount in exchange of facilitating his NBI clearance or business license for a faster release. The Westerners may have spread the infectious addiction to fast foods and sachet and canned foods. I was surprised seeing at a grocery store dinuguan, menudo and afritada individually packed in sachets bearing proudly the advertisement: ready-to-cook, just add hot water. First, it was the coffee, then came the noodles and now lunch too?

Forgive me, dear comrades of my generation for further exploiting the secrets to our award winning reports and researches. How do we really do it? The benefits of the commands copy (ctrl + c) and paste (ctrl + v) and the free access to countless web pages draped in research and report heaven. A little flick of the finger muscle to highlight the relevant data and presto the era of shortcut research has been discovered. More than the Txt language, literal word shortcuts has been giving our English teachers and Etymologists relentless migraines. The name Boracay has already been commercialized from its old non-shortcut term Boracay Islands, but we were persistent Boracay then became the white-sand paradise called Bora. As if jaundice wasn't enough to diagnose the disease formerly called hepatitis, but the horde was ruthless and slashed the bones out of the word leaving the so called hepa.

I am not completely against shortcuts as it has made easier the lives of many including mine. I could not imagine texting all my thoughts to a friend in complete sentences consisting of more than twenty words per sentence with mere five pesos to spare. But, sometimes it is better to do it old school and value the significance of why they were before we came and compressed them into minimum scale. Researching especially, long ago when computers were still blurry visions, students would go to libraries and locate the topics manually using the long forgotten indices and table of contents to aid them. But today, some students don't even know where their public libraries are located but knows the best internet cafes in each succeeding block. Internet plagiarism is now rampant, please be aware that copying most of what you have not written is a crime. Moreover, some so called researchers would pass their so called researches without even understanding even a fragment of it; they simple copy, paste, print and pass. Unlike the old school way when you really have to understand or to the laziest, even just skim the general concept of the chapter so you'll know what to jot down.

I have nothing against fixers, as long as they keep things legal. But you know, at times it is more rewarding to have that business license on your palm through personal labor and patience. More would be the reason why your business has to be successful and flourishing so as to not put the long hours of standing in line to waste. I have nothing against fast foods or ready-to-cook foods, I would often times munch on them on a busy meal. But, there's nothing like home made meals, although they would take time but as they say, it's worth the wait.

I am guilty of using the Txt language, but I have been constantly trying to establish complete messages if ever I could and given the enough load.

Shortcuts are indeed helpful and practical.
No questions there.
Oldo, ders nothng lyk d old skul.

I would like to greet the two most amazing person's in my life, a happy 19th anniversary. Reyno and Llane Garcia.