silver stands in my pensieve

Forgive the long entry...

It is only now that I was able to blog about what happened to me a couple of weeks back. I was still in shock, in denial. Still scared of what happened. But now, I think I have recovered -- not fully, but I think I'm much better now.

I was on my way home on a Thursday night (December 13). It was around 7:50PM when I got to Kamias and was walking towards the house. I was about 20 steps away from the gate when a taxi cab drove to my right side, and the driver grabbed my bag. I was still holding on to my bag when he stepped on the gas. I fell, hit my knees, arms and my chin on the asphalt. A passing tricycle was able to follow the cab and get the plate #. After that, he lost the cab just before EDSA.

The next 30 minutes, I was on the phone, frantically calling Citibank, Smart and BDO regarding the incident and requesting that they block access to all my accounts. I called up my boyfriend, who tried to call my #, but the bastard who took my things finally figured out how to turn off my phone.

My tita and I reported the incident at the Anonas Police Station 9. Apparently, they had a bigger case (carnapping?) that evening, and the desk officer who attended to me wasn't too, well, attentive. Anyway, after filing the police report, we went to St. Luke's to get treatment for my wounds. I had X-rays just to make sure I didn't have any fractures. I also got 2 anti tetanus shots, just in case.

Fast forward: We were able to get the name and address of the operator/owner of the cab. Were finally able to meet with him face to face at the precinct. At first, we wanted to push through with the case, even consulting with a lawyer on what steps to follow. But eventually, we got tired of it...I felt it was not worth it...with the police force not cooperating too much because it was considered a 'petty crime'; the taxi operator reluctant to turn over the driver because he is afraid for his own safety...too many hassles.

Everyone, please be careful of this taxi:
Name: ETJ
Plate#: TYK-489
Color white

I lost everything. My phone was there, my wallet, money (around 10k), ID cards, ATM and credit cards, my Mario Kart arcade cards (tangina, ang hirap makakuha ng #1 dun a), my Timezone cards, my precious Japanese electronic dictionary (that I bought with my measly WW salary), house keys, my Minna no Nihongo 1, my lesson plans for school, my present for the company exchange gift (*&)*%$% mo, swerte mo, may libreng Body Shop ka pa, hayup ka!) -- plus other bits of 'senti' items I considered priceless. Stuff that Schatz gave me and kept with me all the time. Now they are all gone. Probably dumped in a yucky river somewhere.

(Some people even said I lost weight. How can I eat when I can't even properly open my mouth?)

I lost everything, everything except Tsubaki, my Nintendo DS, whew! It was a blessing in disguise. Eversince I got my R4, I couldn't get my hands on my own DS, because Schatz is playing with it, and even told me to leave it at his house (apparently, he wanted to do the daily Brain Age Training...). Thank God for hidden blessings. ^_^

Now, I think I am OK. I'm still scared of going out in public at night and on my own. I hug my things close to me, I walk fast, I am paranoid of any person who gets too near. But I'm moving on, my wounds are healing fast (thanks to Bactoban! Or whatever it's called). I got a new cellphone# (I can't get the old # -- but that's another story), with a phone that looks exactly the same, down to the GMask on the front cover. ^_^ I'm starting over with the lesson plans, and planning to get a nicer dictio too. In the meantime, I'm using Schatz's Wordtank G50. Great dictio, but I kinda miss the stylus on my V80. Very handy when dealing with pesky Kanji. So I hope Santa will give me a belated Christmas present: Casio XD-GW9600. No animated Kanji, but it's got a backlight and a stylus.

The main reason why I got over it quickly was because of the support of all the people around me. My titas, my sister, my parents, my boyfriend, Mommy (Schatz's), my colleagues (Mayeen, bugbugin natin ha!), my friends, my teachers and students, the ever efficient IBM security force (di na talaga ako lilipat ng trabaho!)...even random strangers like my concerned neighbors, the friendly St. Luke's ER people, the nice girl from Maxicare, the nurses from Intellicare, Atty. Pena. OK, sige na nga, pati na rin ung pulis Anonas, kahit mabagal kumilos.

These people are part of the countless blessings I've received since the incident...blessings that I continue to receive daily, because they were not taken from me by the baddies. That's right, count my blessings instead of (black) sheep. Baddies like the taxi bastard are a reality in life, but so are good people (and vigilantes? Haha!).

I was blessed that night because the bastard didn't have a gun with him. Blessed because the bastard didn't run over me with his taxi. Blessed because I didn't suffer any fractures, nor shattered any teeth nor accidentally bit my tongue when I hit the ground. Blessed because I happened to name my phone "Yukari" (Japanese for karma)? Harhar. Let's see karma work its wonders now.

Mommy said, it is a lesson learned. I know it is. I realized that I had to look at it from a bigger perspective...not as a sole victim, but also someone who suffered an 'inconvenience'. Schatz and I attended Mass together last Sunday, and aside from the regular hearing impaired people who attended the 9am service, we also saw a blind girl read the first reading using Braille. I was among these people, people who lost something more important than money or cellphone or an electronic dictionary -- they lost their hearing, their sights, their ability to speak. And here I was, getting myself worried and depressed over material stuff. Kung baga, Cat, get over it soon. Mababawi rin naman yan e. Tama nga naman...^_^

I have a weird officemate who asked me why I was happy. Motmot, of course I was not happy. How can you be happy about it? But I chose not to cry my eyes out over something I cannot recover anymore. I chose to move on with my life, be happy again (but be more careful when going out in public). I chose not to be depressed anymore ("not to be scared anymore" is a different story)...as long as I have all of these people who support and love me, I know I will be OK. Sooner or later. I know I will recover fully. Sooner or later.

Labels: i me mine

Posted by Unknown at 17:37