The Good Samaritans

No one would have remembered the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions. He had money as well.

Margaret Thatcher (1925 - )
British prime minister.

Tia Ata had her ‘new’ house blessed and we were invited to come over and join the celebration. We did not have time to buy a gift so we opted to go to a little supermarket along the way to their house. We bought Double Dutch ice cream (my favorite).

The food was superb and prepared without a catering service but by them. I like best the pochero and the morcon. There were many visitors and relatives. Tia Ata seemed she had enjoyed her party. I kept telling her that her house is beautiful and she replied, “Yung bahay lang, ako di maganda?” (Only the house, how about me?). Overwhelmed by the nice observations, she invited us to go upstairs to have a peek at the rooms. The rooms were painted very nice, each color blended with each other.

We went down afterwards to revel with the other relative visitors. In the middle of it all, Papsie suddenly reported that his cell phone is missing. That got everybody alarmed and looking everywhere – under the tables and chairs and in areas where he went. There was no cel phone. Sweating from the experience, Papsie tried to remain calm, and I was silently cursing the incident because it spoiled the fun and brought back the bad memory of my lost digicam and cel phone. A niece tried to call the number but to no avail, the keeper was not answering.

We went home feeling bland. I decided to at least try to communicate with the keeper by calling Papsie’s phone but it kept telling me that the phone is either out of reach or unattended. With one last try, I sent a text message. I was going back and forth checking the cel phone if there is a message though I know I would be hearing the ring tone or the message alert if there is. Thirty minutes past, and the phone beeped. There was a message.

“Kami po ang nakakuha ng cel phone sa tapat ng choice mart. Isasauli po namin ang cel phone. Mabuti po kaming tao.” (We were the ones who got the phone in front of choice mart. We are going to return it. We are good people.) I literally jumped out of joy and dashed outside the house and proceeded to where Papsie is. By that time, he was with friends, probably consoling himself with their company. From not far away where he and his barkada were, I made a gesture for him to approach. Papsie silently (and sadly) approached me and asked why. I showed him the text message and saw the beam in his face, and then he called up and asked the keeper where we would meet.

When we reach Right Choice Mart along MH del Pilar, we immediately saw a couple with a child, and a sales clerk with the guard, my doubt was obliterated. The couple approached us immediately and asked if we are the owner of the cel phone. We later learned that the good Samaritans were Mary Ann and Al. It was the (4 or 5 year-old) kid who saw the phone at the corner of the two-step stair. I invited them to the mart to buy a gallon of ice cream for the son but they refused strongly.

I felt a sense of admiration towards the young couple. Good Samaritan lineage is slowly declining and to encounter them is real inspiration to everybody.

From the looks of it, the couple did not seem to be affluent. Not that I am judgmental but they are really simple people with modest manners that one wouldn’t mistake as grand or sophisticated like the rich. Miss Thatcher might be wrong. Mary Ann and Al did not look like ‘they have money as well”. Or she maybe right, too.

To Mary Ann and Al and their son, Mabuhay!

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