-- written September 28, 2007
My millennium experience is really fantastic. It was exactly a year a go when the typhoon “Milenyo” struck our country. It was sure one heck of an experience. In fact, it took me a year before could write my experience and deal with what I have thought could be my last day.
It was September 28, 2006; and was supposed to be my fourth day of VB .NET training in DB Wizards. I was very excited to come to the 88 Corporate Tower – where DB Wizards is situated – when my classmate in the training and my office mate as well sent me an SMS asking if we will be having our class at that day. I abruptly answered him back with an improper tone. When I arrived at the building, it was already 10 minutes before 9 am. Luckily, I was able to grab the elevator going up fast. I was alone in elevator. After few minutes, the electrical current in the building fluctuated and you already know what happened next....I got stranded in the elevator for almost thirty long minutes. At first I was not feeling afraid, but I can feel the silence. Normally, I can only HEAR the silence but at that time I can FEEL it. They are slowly devouring every inch of my body. Then, someone speaks via the red speaker found in the upper part of the small hanging box where I am situated. His first words are…”May tao ba dyan?”. I answered, “Opo. Ano pong nangyari?”. And there goes a small chat between me and the man behind the red speaker. I feel that I am no longer part of the outside world. Not because I am inside the elevator but I feel that we in two separate worlds. There are times when the air is empty. No words are coming from the voice behind the red speaker. Suddenly, I found myself texting some of the most important people in my lives. You know who you are guys! Few moments after, I asked myself…”Why am I telling these people what happened to me? Can they help me? Someone is already helping me so what is the reason behind of telling my Mom and other people that I was stucked in the elevator. Am I telling these because I can feel that it would be my last message to them?” How morbid? But, it is true. At that time, I can feel that it could be my last message. Hhhmmm…A lot of pictures suddenly played into my mind. A lot of “WHAT IF’S?” were left unanswered. And now I was looking into the most important questions in my mind…”What are the things in my life that I still wanted to do or achieve?” Hhhmmm…
“Maraming importante sa buhay ko. Ang pamilya ko, ang trabaho, ang mga gawain ko sa simbahan at mga kaibigan. Lahat sila ay naging parte ng maikli kong buhay. Kung ito na ang huli ng mga sandali ng buhay ko ay nais ko sana silang makausap. Masabi man lang ang mga bagay na di ko nasabi sa kanila. Tunay na tunay na kapag ang isang tao ay nasa gilid ng isang panganib ay naiisip nito na ibahagi ang kanyang sarili, at naramdaman ko iyon. “
“Naisip ko ang magiging itsura ko kapag biglang bumagsak ang sinasakyan ko nang walang kaabog-abog. Paano nila makikilala ang durog durog kong katawan? Ano ang magiging reaksyon ng Nanay ko? Mukhang hindi na nya ako makikita na ganito ang itsura. Iiyak sigurado yun at hihimatayin sa araw ng libing ko…Buti na lang nakakuha ako ng isang life insurance. Makakapagpatuloy nang mag-aral yung kapatid kong bunso. Sapat na yung halaga na yun para makapagpatuloy siya ng pagaaral. Sayang at di ko na makikita ang kapatid ko na mag-sayaw sa kanyang debut…Sigurado din ako, di na kami mag-aaway ng kapatid kong pangalawa. Di na kami mag-tatalo at higit sa lahat mas magiging responsable yun kasi wala na ako. Alam ko namang magagawa nya yun, kapatid ko kasi yun eh.”
“Mami-miss kaya ako ng ka-office mates ko? Wala nang mag-tataray sa kanila. Marahil magiging mas mabuti ang buhay nila kasi wala nang maingay sa cube ng Support. Kung di nila ako ma-miss hihilahin ko ang paa nila…Mami-miss ko ang trabaho ko sa Accenture. Isang trabaho na nagpabago ng buhay ko at pananaw ko sa buhay. Di man ito nakikita sa mga gawa ko at sa mga asal ko, pero totoo yun. Masaya ako sa trabaho ko at mahihirapan akong mag-desisyon kung aalis man ako.”
“Mawawala na ako sa sirkulasyon sa Daan - hindi ito Dating Daan ngunit Daan ng Neo-Katekuminado."
Ilang sandali pa, nagsalita ulit yung lalaki. Ang sabi nya ay pababa na raw yung sinasakyan ko kaya wag daw akong matatakot. Nasa gitna daw kasi ako ng “express lane” na kung saan walang mapagbababaan sa akin. Kinalma ko na lang ang sarili ko sa pamamagitan ng pagkuha ng litrato sa sarili ko.
Few more minutes and all I could remember are the faces of all the people outside the elevator eagerly waiting for the next elevator to arrive. Hhhmmm…This might be a short memory of my millennium experience. Surely, my experience with the elevator is amazing and I was able to realize a lot of things.
