RUCKSACK CHECK

Fifty peso bill neatly tucked in my hand woven coin purse, some change, my personal kit containing a hairbrush, nail cutter; pusher, mirror and a small rosary made of wood were all that I brought everyday of the week. All of it lay still inside my relatively small green backpack.

THE NIGHT BEFORE

Old habits die hard. I suppose it grew on me. The way I prepare things a night before another day at work begins. Cramming was never my style. I liked things ready and prepped before putting them in use. And that I did. But the night before my mishap, I did things a bit differently. For some reason, I decided to toss in extra cash in the picture. And so I was set, off to bed then I was.

A NEW DAWN

Shift started at 4:30am and before I knew it the alarm was blasting on my ear drums like crazy. I woke up, got out of bed and showered with water as cold as ice, well, almost. The cool water woke me up just in time to eat my breakfast in a quick pace, brush my teeth, grab my bag and go.

THE GUT FEELING

Stepping out the door on still dark, without sun and breezy streets was routine. As I savored the cool breeze of the yet pollution filled highway, I felt a tingling on my spine. Something was off. I couldn't help but think about the extra cash I was carrying inside my backpack. I had a gut feeling I wasn't supposed to and was seriously pondering on the thought of going back to the house and just leave the money. But then I thought to myself, I'm already way across the highway and needed to get some groceries anyway. And so I kept on my way.


THE JOURNEY

The fast and racing hell like speed of the jeepney I was on was common especially at the break of dawn when the roads are clear as ever. But this was the very reason I missed my stop. As my ride approached strata, I yelled out the usual to notify the driver. Apparently though it wasn't loud enough compared to the roaring vehicle. I tried again but by then we were already at the bridge. The driver did manage to hear me but dropped me off way out. 

I was already in front of Alexandria. Looking on the path I had to take, clearly I was pissed. Mumbling to myself, I started making my way to the sidewalk. The sidewalk might I add was a thin stretch of path towards Ortigas Complex but had trees lined up making the street lights almost disappear and that hugely worried me. Greatly different from my usual stop, this side of town was more like a desert. With only the ebbing sound of breeze, deafening silence, nobody around, all it needed was tumbleweed to complete the picture.

CHECK YOUR CADENCE

Moving on, having not much of a choice, I continued on a brisk manner badly hoping guards roamed and that nobody was following me. Almost halfway to the curb and the street lamp, I looked back for a second to check and as I turned back I found myself face to face with a man in a baseball cap carrying a backpack. Startled, I doubled up my pace and moved quickly to get away. To my surprise
he just walked right passed me, but I did sight his face turn a bit to glance at me. Relieved that the tall, dark stranger did not at all harm me, for whatever reason I slowed down a bit as I was only a few more steps to the safe zone, the curb where lights shone and most probably where guards roamed.

THE STICK UP

A flopping sound caught my attention. I turned to see what it was; the tall, dark stranger was running quickly towards me. His flip flop was where the sound was coming from. My heart rate rushed, I couldn't react as well as I should and later found myself reaching inside my backpack instead of running away. Before I knew it, he was reaching for my arm and I, out of my queer mind trying hard enough but bad enough to stab him with my tiny nail pusher. I don't think he even noticed my unlikely weapon of choice at all. 


He just went on and grabbed my arm, stayed behind me and stuck a pointed almost sharp object on my side. Then, I thought now was a good time to put away my nail pusher, so I slipped it inside my pocket. “Hold up 'to, huwag kang papalag, sasaksakin kita, akin na pera mo”(This is a stick up, don't move or I'll stab you..give me your money)he said. (I did reach the curb by the way, yes, when the whole thing happened we were standing right below the street lamp and with bad timing. There were no cars passing through, not even people, it’s as if fate was mocking me.) 

That's when it hit me, Fear. I couldn't move I just froze. “Akin na pera mo”(Give me your money) he again said, but this time he gave me a little push. I snapped out of it a bit and started reaching inside my backpack. When I found my coin purse (again God knows what went on my mind) managed to open it while inside my bag and quickly tossed out my five hundred peso bill and then gave the rest of the money to my mugger. He didn't notice what I did, but he did notice the cash was only seventy pesos and that's when he said to me, “Alam ko may cellphone ka, akin na”(I know you have a cellphone, give it). 

That's when I lost it, I blurted out instantly“Pera na lang huwag po cellphone importante po yun, pera na lang” while handing over the five hundred peso bill. I could not have been more stupid, haggling that way with a criminal. But the odd thing was though, my petty mugger didn't even check my pockets for my cellphone and when handed the cash, he simply said “sige”. Surprised, I replied “ha?”. “Sige na” he repeated. I then realized it really was my queue to go. I was home free! Except for the fact that he still had his tool pointed at my side. He gave me a push and felt his grip on my arm let go.

THE AFTERSHOCK

Still in a bit of a shock. I made my way to our building reported to the guards what had happened but my mugger was probably well out on its way already. The guards advised me to report the incident to the nearest Police Station but as I looked at the time, I figured I could still make it to shift so I declined the offer and said maybe later. Could you believe it? I still made it to shift without a scratch and not to mention without cash. 

I was at my wits end that day, managed to haggle with a mugger, what a scene I'd certainly made. Anyhow, right after shift I went to report the incident to the nearest police station. Telling them exactly what had happened, the nail pusher part of it and all, and how I almost put up a good fight with my mugger. The officers ended up giving out a bit of a laugh, looking at me as if i were telling a joke. But they did take it seriously and after much of our descriptive dialog, the officers made a remark that really got to me. “Hindi professional ang nakadale sa'yo, kasi hindi ka sinaksak kahit nanglaban ka, maswerte ka, kaya sa susunod ibigay mo na lang iha...” Next time? I thought to myself what am I, victim material? 

Like he was almost certain that there will be a next time. They had a point though and I've never felt as stricken as I did that very moment. I could have died pulling off that little stunt and wouldn't recommend what I did to anyone, not at all. But something good did come out of this incident; it taught me a lot of things. It taught me that it's good to be prepared, it's good to anticipate, and it’s good to fight for your right and your life but choose your battles carefully. Sometimes, the best way to become victorious is by simply giving up a fight especially when circumstances do not favor you. That very day though, on that battle, my fate was of pure sheer luck and nothing more.