My time spent with Ate Sheila at Blessings Bookbinding and Photocopy Services truly was a blessing, and I mean this sincerely with all my heart. At first, I was very apprehensive about not knowing anything. Even with Ate Ekha’s help and all the workshops we attended, being on the spot was different: How was I supposed to last 6 hours without making things awkward? What if I made mistakes with the printing and Ate Sheila would have to suffer for it? I didn’t want to be a burden. But when I got there, everything went better than expected.
Ate Sheila showed me that people don’t automatically think the worst of you, not all the time. She was extremely patient with me, teaching me how to print and charge and bind. It was a very fun experience! Also, I was very grateful that the Ateneo has students who are courteous and polite (even under imminent deadlines!).
(^^ me with my first binding, I was so proud!)
But on a more meaningful note, this BINHI exposure allowed me to experience camaraderie in the short six hours we spent together. Our kwentuhan went on about everything--her kids, her life story, the tragedy of losing a future in the face of an unexpected pregnancy. And contentment in the midst of all this hardship. I remembered our discussion in SocSci about how certain tasks were given less value than others in certain contexts. If you think about it, photocopying and printing can be easily written off as menial, as easy. But actually being there? It was not menial or easy at all, and yet Ate Sheila was pure grace under pressure. And she was happy where she was, despite all her setbacks in life. She was a doorway to a life outside my own, with the stories of her province and her daughters.
Ate Sheila inspired me to stop and look at the people around me. The janitors, the secretaries, the security guards, all of those often overlooked. They all have their own stories, they all have their own complexities, and as human beings, these aspects of them deserve to the time to be recognized. It’s not that I don’t know this, only that this action is often taken for granted by people like me, too blinded by the business of our own lives. We all struggle. Some just struggle more gracefully, more quietly than others. All the more reason to treat everybody with kindness, and make the effort to reach out, makipagkapwa in recognition of their humanity.
There was not an awkward moment. I learned that most awkward moments are in my head. Ate Sheila and Ate Katherine (the security personnel) actually gave me food! They showed me bonding and hospitality that I will forever be grateful for, and I will cherish them in my memories.
