A Good Deed for A Good Deed

Growing up in the province during the 80s have some derogatory effects when it comes to technological issues. My brother and I grew up not knowing how to use the telephone. My sister, Liz, being the oldest had the honor of being brought to Manila by our aunt and so was more familiar with those innovations. She played the ATARI when it was still the hottest toy, my brother and I learned about it right before it was phased out.

The only thing we had in the house that time was an old NATIONAL black and white television set and an old player where my father used to play The Platters and The Four Aces. We were lucky. Some made use of old transistors to listen to the afternoon drama (Matudnila) as a form of entertainment.

Being nice kids (I guess), we were always invited by our well-to-do neighbors, the Apostols and the Gamboas, to watch Betamax with them early at night. So, our mother would let us eat supper early so we can go. And there we were, at the farthest corner of the big house, quiet as mice and thankful for being invited to watch 'The Never Ending Story,' 'Starwars,' 'Tom and Jerry Classics,' 'Wanted Pamilya Banal,' 'Bukas Luluhod and Mga Tala,' 'Bagets 1 & 2' and a lot lot more. At the end of each film, we would get up from our corner and thank our very kind neighbors and leave as quietly as we could after making sure that we didn't leave any trash or smudge their sofa with our dirty fingers. It went on for years.

In the early 90s, things have changed. We were then able to acquire our own VHS player long before the others in town did. Extending the same kindness we received from our neighbors, we also invited some kids in the neighborhood to watch movies with us. But these kids were different. They were noisy and reckless. They left candy wrappers and stuck them in our sofa. They didn't even thank us when the movie was over.

But we still invited them in the succeeding events. Maybe things were really like that. Maybe kids have really changed. Maybe we invited the wrong kids.  Or maybe it's generation gap. But whatever it was, one thing is for sure, a good deed can only be paid with another good deed..