(Written on Sept 7.)
“Singson denied being part of any assault. But he clearly stated before that ‘good thing that’s the only thing I did to her. He’s saying it was his bodyguards and not him.”
A laugh. “How is that possible? He didn’t know? Now he’s backing out.”
“Yeah, because there’s press now.”
“He’s a bad guy.”
“He really is.”
“He beat up his wife. Or mistress. And the other guy, too.”
“This is the, what, 3rd time already?”
“Chavit Singson was also responsible for getting Erap in trouble.”
Another laugh. “Yeah, I bet Erap is now persecuting him the most. He’s pushing him.”
“It’s like that Greek saying about the worm. Chavit persecuted Erap, and now it’s the other way around.”
I heard this conversation as I was eating dinner at a restaurant the other night. These two men were talking about Chavit Singson’s scandal where in he allegedly assaulted his wife and the person she was cheating on him with. Honestly, I only read the comics and horoscope section of the newspaper. I don’t read the actual news, unless it truly interests me. I really should make it a habit to know what’s going on in our country, and saying I’m “too busy” to read is not an excuse – in fact, it’s considered a lie in many ways. I do have time. I just opt to do other things with my time.
So that’s why, when I overheard this conversation, I was surprised. Well, maybe surprised isn’t the right word. Maybe more of humbled. I was humbled by my lack of knowledge about the current events in our country. Sure, I follow the Inquirer on Twitter but I don’t actually read the articles. I think this is due to the fact that Inquirer posts tweets/breaking headlines every minute, and it’s taxing to go through all of them. It’s a lot easier to skip them than to click on 10 links at a time.
If I had joined this conversation (in the alternate reality that I knew these people personally), I would’ve asked what Chavit Singson did, exactly. What he did to Erap, to his wife and to the other guy. I also would’ve asked who Chavit Singson is, exactly. I’d also ask about the Greek saying. What did he mean by that? What is that Greek saying? And why a worm? I guess I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to these things. But ignorance isn’t bliss. Or is it?
