The Player - Part II (El jugador - parte dos)

Aka appeared as excited as Timido was when they entered the store. If there was one bit of wisdom Aka had gathered over the years was that temptation is best dealt with by avoiding it, but this was not a place conducive to avoiding anything. Aka’s mind snapped back to reality when he saw the stupefied look on Timido’s face. It was at that moment he realized he had brought the lamb to the slaughter, but the big question was, who was the lamb.

He pulled Timido aside in an attempt to make him see the reality of the situation. Aka’s tone of voice and facial expression went into wisdom mode as he said, “Timmy, you have to remember what you see here is not what is real. The lighting, the décor, the music all help to creates an illusion of grandeur. Not one of these players will look as good in your apartment, at least not for very long, or without proper lighting. You also have to bear in mind that some of the latest models have no track record of performance and may have even been illegally smuggled into the country. I seriously doubt they will come with any type of warranty. Be careful, be very careful.” Aka was convinced that Timido didn’t hear a word he just said but Aka had to say them. He had to talk himself out of temptation but seemed to be losing the battle.

To make a long story short, both Timido and Aka walked out the store with the latest models. Both players were illegally smuggled into the country, but they looked better than any players they had ever seen. Aka was battling his guilt with some success but he knew this victory was only temporary. He tried to convince himself that the new player was worth it. He tried to convince himself that his old player would soon need replacing and that it had become very boring, though very reliable. Unfortunately, guilt has a way of short circuiting undeserved happiness. That was the way nature worked, and for good reason.

They say all stories must have an end and in the last paragraphs the conclusion should be made, even if the conclusion is uncertain. Having said that, see what you can make of this ending.

Timido wanted the entire back seat for himself and his new player. Timido held the box securely as if he was afraid he would loose it, the box I mean. Aka turned around and couldn’t help notice the words “Hecho en Colombia” boldly written across the box. As they drove off into the sunset, Aka tought how much the years had changed him. He was once a great fan of Asian technology, but now his new attraction seemed to be South American.

p.s: Aka was later arrested for possession of illegally smuggled goods. The player was seized and shipped back to its country of origin after the hearing. Aka was found not guilty after pleading temporary insanity. The judge accepted the plea when he saw the goods first hand.

The Player - Part I (El jugador - parte una)

Timido was terrified of DVD players, and that was the main reason he never got one. Though he was still quite young he felt left out since all his friends had a player, and some even had more than one. His best friend Aka was rumored to have had four at one time, but that is a different story.

There is nothing like peer pressure to make someone do something, and getting a DVD player was one of these things. Not withstanding the peer pressure, Timido saw the need to get a player. In the past, when Timido wanted to use his DVDs, he would have to rent a player for the night. Unfortunately, those never played very well, he guessed it was because they were overused.

Timido was baffeled by the choice of players but he was sometimes intrigued by his friends’ players. However, he knew very well that he couldn’t borrow one of these, even for a night, for many a friendship was destroyed when one buddy either used another buddys' player without permission, or in the wrong way.

Timido and Aka were best friends for many years and that was the only reason he managed to get Aka to help him choose a player. Timido had confidence in Aka because Aka had experience in these matters. Aka never had a problem with players and would sometimes, on impulse, walk into a store and walk out with the latest, slim line model. Timido could never do these things so he convinced Aka to help him choose one. Aka, quite rightly, never liked the idea of choosing a player for a friend because he feared he would be blamed if the player refused to play, say for example, on a Saturday night. The last thing Aka would want happen on a Saturday night was to be blamed, or worse, interrupted.

Aka gave Timido a pep talk on the way to the store. He explained that he should never choose a player because it simply looked good, though looking good has advantages, such as impressing friends. To reassure Timido, Aka told a story of a guy who brought home a player which was considered to be among the finest in the world. The player looked impressive and all his friends were in awe. But, as impressive as it looked, the player wouldn’t even open its tray much less play a DVD. Aka also explained that the latest models were sometimes too expensive and also cost a lot to maintain. “Everything has a price Timmy, and some players not only cost more but may even send you to the poorhouse, believe me I know” Aka warned Timido. Aka always said things in a wise way although what he said wasn’t. It was Aka's way I guess.

To be continued....

Miss Three Dollars

I bought a pen a month ago. It was a cheap pen, thin, long and grey, just like some old women, but only better looking, and much younger. It seems I have been losing my best pens lately, but as to why or to whom remains a mystery.

I became disillusioned with pens and feared losing another. These regrettable events caused me to frequent shady stationary outlets to pick up these cheap pens. Long and grey was no exception. Costing only $3.00, I didn’t expect the pen to write well because all my life I was taught if it looks cheap, and it is cheap, then it will behave cheap. Miss Three Dollars made a mockery of this theory; she wrote like a Pilot on steroids, she danced on the paper like a ballerina. Her grip was reassuring and her movement flawless. There were never any signs of a struggle between ink and ball, and with my guiding hand, her lines were always perfectly placed. It was like the stuff dreams are made off, except it was no dream. I hid her away, not because she was cheap, but from fear of losing yet another pen, and a good one at that.

Despite all the rumblings and uncertainty of the World around us, I had a smile on my face. You see, the simple purchase of a cheap pen from a less than reputable outlet had renewed my faith in bargains, and to some extent, pens.

This blog was a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the Bolger’s barren, and sometimes foolish, imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living, dead or the living-dead was entirely avoidable :)

One With The Road

When we are driving, we sometimes have to go over potholes. Whether we speed over them, or go slowly it doesn't matter because we always get over these unsightly obstacles. Luckily, potholes are not very dangerous, and the worst thing that can happen is for us to stop and stare at the pothole, wondering how to get over them and giving them power they don't deserve. Most drivers are unaffected by this and simply release the breaks and move on.

It seems the main ambition in the life of a pothole is to become a bigger pothole. It is felt, in some quarters, potholes do this because they feel the bigger they are the more power they wield. Unfortunately, potholes never seem to grasp the fact that a pothole is just an irritation and a bigger pothole is just a bigger irritation, drawing more attention to it and asking to be filled. Then again, that may be the reason they strive to become monumental in size, because at that size, they cannot be ignored and will be filled, becoming one with the road again.

Being Human

If one is without kindness, how can one be called a human being?
Sarada Devi

Everything Not Anything

Everything makes me wonder about life these days. I keep asking why is it so screwed up and if it has meaning, which we are not seeing. I am beginning to feel we should not look for the truth, but maybe the truth is everything we do and everything we think. The truth may not be a glorious revelation as we think it is and we may be missing the answer because it's right under our nose. The answer may be not to question but to live.

If we accept more and deny less then we are in a better position to feel we are part of the Universe. The problem with most of us is that we look for a mould and then try to fit into it. The Universe is not a mould and trying to fit into one in unnatural. I think this is why we feel uncertain and fearful, even when we shout out to the World, "my mould is the only true mould, my belief is the only true belief." As someone once said, I don't believe in anything, I believe in everything. That may be the answer, even if you didn't ask the question.

The Pessimistic Idealist

What do you call and optimist with pessimistic tendencies? Me. I am a believer who doesn’t know what to believe. I would feel better about looking for the answers if I was surer about the questions. Naturally, I am looking for the truth but I am aware that if I found the truth it might be of no use. This is the pessimist in me speaking today, or is it the realist. Nevertheless, I can be an idealist at times.

A Simple Truth

Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it.
Pablo Casals

Arrogance

The dictionary defines arrogance as - overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors.

You can look at arrogance in many ways but anyway you look at it arrogance is undesirable. There are many reasons why people are arrogant and some of these would be pride, sense of superiority, lack of respect for others, ignorance of the World, fear, insecurity and the one common to all arrogant people, stupidity. The dictionary also defines character as moral or ethical strength, and arrogance devalues character in the same way as vanity devalues beauty.

Naturally, arrogance is sometimes a perception but the type of arrogance I am referring to here is the chronic, full-blooded, I-am-better-than-you, type of arrogance. This arrogance does nothing to make the world a better place and it actually contributes to the problems of the world by being a medium for hate and resentment.

Until a person can cure the world of all its ills, hate, resentment and destruction, then, and only then can a person have the smallest of reasons to be arrogant. And I am sure such a person would not even know what arrogance is because he, or she would be absorbed in meaningful actions. Yet, everyday, we see people parading up and down, high on their self-inflated egos, ignorant of their ignorance and signaling to the world that they are the cure for all problems. But the irony of arrogance is that the arrogant thinks he is the answer when in fact he is the problem.