Hero ng Bayan

The missus always had the upperhand when our discussion led to which university/college was the best. She would boast, "Bakit ba laging taga-UP ang kinukuha pag guest sociologist/psychologist, etc. when it comes to local talk shows? Wala na bang iba?"

A graduate of UP, the manner with which she says it is as if a patch of cloud went underneath her feet to levitate her a few inches up, a feeling that I observed similarly from Chico and Del who finished from the same university as well.

My life was going to be endless "UP is the best" cheers ringing in my ears until, finally, my day of reckoning arrived.

It was a Wed morning so I tuned our radio to 89.9WTM for the weekly "Forbidden Questions" talk show by DJ Mo. His guest, Hero Angeles, reported to have been a product of UP. His manner of speaking was very humble, likewise his English so much so that about 10-12 callers to the radio station requested (read: PLEADED) that Hero talk in Tagalog "kase di namen maintindihan ang pag-English nya."

But Hero, tried as he might, fell repeatedly into the English death-trap ---much to the embarassed giggling of the missus. You should've seen me teasing the missus relentlessly as Hero tried sentence after sentence to make sense, much like my Chinese vendors whom I always asked to draw on the whiteboard what they were desperately trying to say.

All I can say is, thank you Hero. For the missus has felt the ground again (and hard). :)