Monday, December 15, 2014

The SM Experience...



Our SM in Baguio is one of the few SMs in the country with a unique built. Nowhere can you see an SM designed like ours. People flock to SM for many reasons. I know some will disagree I am pretty sure some do also nod their heads to what I am going to say. For one, SM is one-stop-shop. Two, it is the biggest shopping mall in the city. Three, it is at the heart of Baguio and lastly, you do not get wet even with heavy rains when you decide to go home from your shopping spree.

The reason I am telling you this is I want to relate to you an experience I had in SM just two days ago. I went to SM to buy myself a cooling pad. The one I currently have has not been functioning for days and I thought it was time I got a replacement. After buying the most needed gadget and roaming around SM I decided to go home. It was around 6:00 in the afternoon and raining heavily so I went to find the end of the long queue which is a normal setting in SM especially when it is raining. I realized that the end of the line was at BDO which means that there are about almost 200 people on the line and still increasing in number.

When I was near the taxi stand I noticed a guy with a number of luggage standing at the entrance fidgeting and seemed bored. I noticed him becoz he was in a printed polo of yellow and green with a matching hat and shorts that seem too large for him. I have nothing against punks though. I surmised they must be visitors because Baguio people do not dress that way. At last, after an hour I was 3rd on the line for a cab when the woman behind me called the guy to hurry up with their luggage. She was grumbling “Ano ba naman yan. Kokonti pala ang taxi dito. Maghihintay ka pa ng isang oras bago makasakay” while arranging their luggage in front of them on the line.

“I should not have come to Baguio had I known it is like this”. She continued talking to herself.
I turned to her and said “Lady, this is rush hour. Add to it the heavy rains. I am sure wherever you come from, when it rains, people get stuck in many places to keep dry and transportation becomes difficult”. Do you want me to tell you how many taxi cabs are roaming the city right now? There are thousands of them in a very small space.

“I suggest that you do not make conclusions of what Baguio is with just this incident. It is not fair. If you just arrived in Baguio, try to keep your mind open until you have seen it all before you make your judgment not before that”.

She looked at me tongue-tied. I do not know why and what was running in her mind that very moment and I didn’t care. It is enough that I have said my piece. I turned my back to her and took the next cab coz I was the next to go.

I love Baguio and I would not trade it for any other place…..

Lesson learned? Do not be judgmental.
My Lesson? Put on your headset hehehe…

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