ramblings of a wandering geek

I remember the kid named Max in the story and a line that he said..

“I want you to fight for me! That’s all I ever wanted!

That made me think and wonder.. Did you ever even fight for me? Did you? Maybe not, i think, idk.. I may never know..

And a kicker, it’s so ironic that I watched the said movie with you.

I spent a night in Tagaytay sharing life stories with the 53 yr old driver of the van we rented for the trip. We were in one of the resort’s cabanas warding off the intense cold with a bottle of rhum when he told me the story of the American guy he has been chauffeuring for the past decade or so..

There was this American dude who married a poor small-time Filipino lady singer from the province. She was a simple lady, or so he thought until they got married. This “success story” became an arrogant, self-entitled bitch that not only looked down on her fellow people but also lived a very lavish life, most of the time squandering her husband’s money on useless stuff, boasting that she’s now rich and rubbing elbows with big people. But the American kept being kind to her, just like the first time he met her. He put her 2 siblings and even a nephew through college, bought her a parcel of land and a big house in the province and even bought her dad a 200,000 peso fishing boat.

But life turned out to be cruel to the American. Not only did she continue her spending sprees, she went on to spend the husband’s money on her suitors and the guys her eyes fancied, whenever she goes out to drink, to go ballroom dancing, she had guys left and right. The husband had an inkling of what was happening but kept a blind eye because he loved her, waiting for her to change. He did keep one thing from her though, he didn’t give her a baby. He saw early on how his wife changed after getting married and he kept that, waiting for her to change, but unfortunately she didn’t..

Until one day he caught her red-handed, with messages from her iPhone, and the stuff she bought for her guy using their joint credit card. In short, they got divorced and kicked her out of the house, yet he still let the siblings and the nephew finish college. And just last year he developed cancer of the bone marrow, but as soon as he heard that she was living in a hotel he told her to move back in with him, in the same house he kicked her out of. The woman felt guilty in theend, and as appreciation for taking her back in she’s now taking care of the American who is continuing his fight against his sickness.

As the driver continued with his storytelling I started processing that particular story.. Even with all the shit that has happened to the guy, when others would’ve simply thrown out the girl in hate and despair, after all has been said and done he still extends kindness to her. If I was in his place, could I have done the same, continued to be kind to the one who did all that stuff to him. If I was him, would I have been able to do the same? Well he admitted that he fooled around a bit when he visited in the Philippines but the driver couldn’t blame him, after all he has been through, and yet in the end he still put up with the one he vowed to love and take care of even when she changed for the worse. I ended up questioning my capacity to be kind, and when faced with being in pain and suffering, will I become like the bitch, or continue to be like the American?

Don’t think of it as being weird or something..
You might just have saved a suicidal’s life.