Christmas Back Breaker

I watched in silence as people went past me. Most of them were kids with their parents happily trudging the streets to their godparents or to their relatives for their Christmas gifts.

It only happens here and only in this season where you find all of the people out with a seemingly festive mood. But I still watched in silence.

I woke up early this morning not catching the same festive air these people have. I am not griping neither am I envious. In fact, we prepared food for a small family gathering at our uncle's place. It was enough to feed a hungry regiment.

But that wasn't the way I spent the whole day. Actually, the whole day was muscle straining for me, my brother and my father.

We set aside breathing the jolly air to begin the day with work. Yes. Amidst all the caroling and the cheers that people were having, we were working.

But hold your horses, if my colleagues reading this might think that I did SP work on a Christmas, they're dead wrong. I did something harder.

My father was actually reluctant to bring me along. I didn't have the right stamina and physical strength to do the job. But he brought me along just to ease the load between him and my brother. They also hired someone from our neighborhood to help. Our task: to transfer boxes and other assortments from Makati to Manila.

A client offered my father the job. He was a long time client and a friend so my father consented to the work. Although he thought that this would be as easy as pie to his dismay.

Approximately 15 balikbayan boxes (and huge ones at that), not to mention a 30" television with stand, a king sized bed, two pets (a cat and two birds), 2 aquariums worth of sand and corals and several gallons of water were carried in 4 trips.

The number may seem overwhelming but it's a complete understatement compared to the weight of the boxes. (And I still wonder why the client didn't rent a truck for the job)

We had to load it to our vehicle from inside the client's house and bring it to his new 2nd floor apartment in Manila. So here's to make it easier to picture the house is a bungalow.

Our muscles were strained. Our clothes were filthy with the dust and grime. Our backs nearly broken carrying all those load. And all the people we pass were frolicking with their new gifts while others were flaunting their new clothes and hairstyles. (Read on I'm not bitter promise!)

The work took past lunchtime. But that is without noting that after the third trip, I blacked out. We were carrying the last box before going back. As I was about to go up the stairs, I seemed to lose hearing while at the same time, my eyes seemed to see all black. I was conscious. I know my eyes were open, but my ears and my eyes seemed to be not functioning at that moment. My mouth was parched. My knees were not just shaky but almost useless in carrying my own weight. I have feared the worst. I'm blacking out.

That was the second time I've blacked out like that. The first one was while on a hiking trip gone wild at Ilas, bulacan, bordering bulacan and montalban, rizal. It was a helluva experience and another story.

So I sat down and closed my eyes. On our way to the client's house to load the fourth time, I thought my father would drop me off to our house to rest. But he didn't. Actually, I don't want the day to end with me feeling that weak in the remaining hours of the day so I was thankful. I rested for a while. Luckily, a dumptruck was blocking our way to the client's house so we have to wait for a while. It was enough for me to regain my strength.

After the back breaking toil, we headed to our uncle's house hoping to party with my cousins. We found the house with only our family remaining and our uncle. All the others left. So feeling slightly dejected, we took to eating our overdue lunch instead and then went home.

It was a great way to spend the Christmas. Unique. Hard. Not to mention, back breaking. But the best part was that at the end of the day, there was pay worth our labor.