Greetings

When I entered the parking lot of a mall around 12NN today, I saw a group of ‘car wash women and men’ in their green uniform waive at me and ask if I want a car wash. I lowered my car window, smiled at them, and handed them a pack of biscuits. 

“Merienda nyo po.” (For your snacks) I said.

One of the women extended her hand and she and the others were literally jumping up and down smiling and saying, “Yehey! Thank you po. Thank you!” 

Wow! They were so happy! The joy and gratitude they showed touched me deeply. 

After Mass, I realized, it’s not really about the biscuits. When I go to the grocery, I have them in mind — the guards, street cleaners, mall car washers, street children. I buy packs of biscuits and ChocNuts and put them in my car trunk and the passenger seat. They occupy a special space in my heart. I see them.

I’m sharing this not to draw attention to myself… but to draw awareness that regardless of who we are and where we are at in our lives, we all have this need to feel safe, seen, and appreciated. 

I get sad when I see guards greeting the mall goers, “Good morning, Ma’am! Good morning, Sir!” and the mall goers didn’t even look at them as if they didn’t exist. As an empath, I feel sorry for the guards. I know how it feels to feel unseen. Years ago, I once gave out flyers in Megamall as part of a campaign we did when I was still with HSBC and I felt rejected every time the mall goers pretended not to see me or they shooed me away with their hand gesture.

My heart breaks when I’m inside a posh restaurant and the family at the next table are having fun chatting away while their helper is at the opposite side of the table without any food and looking like she’s not part of the family.

Why do we tend to treat the ones who are economically/socially more successful than us like pedestals (e.g. celebrities, CEOs, etc) and treat those economically/socially less successful than us (e.g. guards, janitors, cleaners, helpers, etc) like they didn’t even exist?

May this post inspire us to be a little more kind to one another. A simple smile goes a long way. We are all equals playing different roles. #seen.