The One With The Lost Cellphone

Friday night I went with Bea, Patrick and his sister Janna to the MTV Right to Royalty concert. One couldn’t say no to the offer: Cynthia Alexander, Makiling Ensemble, The Dawn, Gary Valenciano, Pinikpikan, Rivermaya, True Faith, Grace Nono. We arrived at the Open Field of The Fort just before the great swarm of people; nevertheless, all seats were already occupied. We were enjoying ourselves, listening to the music and taking snapshots of the scene, until Rivermaya went onstage and the pineapples started going berserk. Berserk to us, that is; apparently, making a mosh pit out of every square foot of ground available is the norm to them. Anyway, the four of us just placed ourselves conveniently out of their reach and were unscathed… for now.

Bea left sometime later to meet with the Pokka Circle. This was just before The Dawn started their set and the guys in black stirred anew. This time the commotion was much wilder, with a kid of about ten bodysurfing over his idiot friends. After the whole fuss, in which I stumbled over and stepped on an angry mother, I found that I had lost my phone. We tried searching for it but the space around us were filled with garbage and not much else. We decided to get out of there immediately into safer areas.

Once out of the greater part of the crowd, Patrick and Janna tried to contact my cellphone. It was still ringing so I turned back and headed for our previous spot. I said “excuse me” to everyone until this guy who was sitting wouldn’t let me pass, and told me in an accusatory voice:

“Sa’n ka ba? Kasama ka ba nung mga magugulo?”

I was infuriated. Am I dressed in black and grime? Of course, I didn’t say that. I just gave him an incredulous look and walked away. The extremely stupid guy didn’t even realize, that if I’d been with the Rowdy Boys, I wouldn’t even excuse myself--I’d just push him out of my way. And I was alone, for godsakes. No one wearing the grunge look would be on his own; they act exclusively in throngs.

I went back to my friends who were still on their cellphones. After a few rings a guy picked up and told us (1) that he is planning to return my cellphone, (2) not to worry, and (3) to meet him near the blue gate. We did just that, but after nearly an hour of waiting for him and searching the crowd for a guy in the attire he described, we were tired and decided to just go home. Patrick and Janna tried calling my phone again, but this time it was out of reach. I’m still giving him the benefit of the doubt though. Anyway if he accidentally turned my phone off there was no way he could turn it on again. I made sure of that.

***

A litany of thanks is in order:

Ate Jackie – You who slept through the whole ordeal. Thanks to your knack for losing your mobile phones, the shock of my loss was quite deadened. Thank you. (Same goes to Edgar, Krissy, and Lani.)

Bea – For having the sense to rescue yourself from the night’s mishap, thank you.

Dad – Thanks for waiting up for me and for not badgering me with questions when I got home.

Mom – You are the person who least deserves to be woken up at night and yelled at. Sorry if my temper got the best of me; I know you were only worried. Thanks for understanding and your unwavering patience.

The siblings Ablir – For allowing me to use your mobile phones and credits while searching for mine, for your helpful suggestions on what I should do, for performing your own suggestions when I lost all sense, for worrying with me: a bazillion thanks. Janna, thanks for the free concert tickets; under different circumstances it would’ve been a happy night. Patrick, for searching practically the whole open field for the Man-in-a-White-Shirt-and-Chicago-Bulls-Cap and for keeping your wits about you, thank you. You guys are the best.

God – For endowing me with extraordinary optimism and for seeing that I got home safely, thank you.

My mobile phone – I cursed you for failing me so many times; there were instances when I desperately wanted to hurl you against a wall. You retaliated by self-destructing and costing me more than a few thousand pesos in repair. But which relationship is without its problems, right? The good times we had far outweigh the bad. Thank you, and may your replacement arrive quickly.