UP Diliman Adventures
I had quite a day on the 4th of June when I went to UPD.
The Cell Phone
I was rushing to my lunch date (Jabu, it’s with my sister!) when a black thingy on the ground caught my eye. I looked closer at the “black thingy” and saw that it looked like a cell phone in a black felt case. I looked even closer (my nose was almost touching the “black thingy”) and was even more convinced it was a cell phone. I did not take that thing out of its case to confirm that it was a cell phone. I did not want to put my fingerprints all over it in case it ended up under the scrutiny of Horatio in CSI.
Shame, shame. Even after I was 90% sure that it was indeed a cell phone, I had to think about what I should do. I thought, “Should I or should I not?”
You have a dirty mind. I was not thinking about taking off with it. What I was uncertain about was whether I should pick it up and bring it to the Student Affairs Office (where Lost items eventually Find their way) or I should walk on, forget about the cell phone and leave it for a real Girl Scout to deal with.
Unfortunately, my conscience got the better of me (so I was reaaalllly late for lunch). I picked up the case – only two fingers were touching it and I held it around 6 inches away from my body – and brought it to the Lost and Found. I had to fill in my name and contact info; I hated that. The person in charge said I had to leave my name and phone number there in case the owner wanted to contact me to say thanks.
Note to the cell phone owner:
I swear, I did not take it; I was just the unlucky person who found it and was reaaallly late for lunch because I had to be a Girl Scout and submit it to the Lost and Found desk. If you want to thank me, I take Visa and Mastercard.
The Shoelaces
My day of good deeds was not over. I saved a guy from tripping. Well, not exactly, but it all amounts to the same thing.
I was walking along the Oval then when I noticed, walking ahead of me, this guy with a very cool head of hair. So I was admiring this guy – I looked at him from the top of his head to the heels of his shoes (I was looking at him from behind, you understand) – when I noticed his untied shoelaces. I so pitied the shoelaces that I caught up with the guy and told him about his poor shoelaces. So there – because I told him about his untied shoelaces, he did not trip, which he might have done if his untied shoelaces were left unattended. Another good deed accomplished!
Well, actually, it was not pure altruism on my part. I had two ulterior motives. I was tired of his back and wanted to see how he looked like from the front, and I wanted to stall him so I can go past him; I was in a hurry and he was hogging the way.
Directions
I waited for my sister at the shed in front of Vinzon’s. In the 5 minutes I was there, I was asked for directions to NSO and the Pantranco jeepney stop. Back in CSSP, someone asked me if I knew which room was designated for SEA enlistment, and a couple of kids asked me where DLRC is.
What’s up with these people? Do I have a sign on my forehead that says: “Lost? Let me help you find your way.” Even the cell phone begged me (quietly) to take it to the Lost and Found desk.
I probably know the university like the back of my hand, I’ll grant you that, but newsflash: my mental image of UP Diliman is 6 years old. A lot of changes have occurred since then. In my short jaunts back to the motherland (i.e. UPD), I didn’t really go round and round the place just so I could “update” my mental map. Oh, that ravine is new. Let me upload that image to my brain just in case a hapless freshie asks me about it the next time I’m here.
Note to the freshies and lost people of UPD:
If you’re going to ask someone for directions, ask someone who looks old enough to be an upperclassman, but don’t waste your time on someone who looks like her student number belongs to the last century (i.e. 1900s). Either he’s MRR in MA or PhD and hasn’t really been staying in the university (otherwise, he’d have finished his thesis, wrote his paper, sat his compre, and graduated) or he is a parent/sibling of a freshie. In either case, it would be the blind (or nearly blind) leading the blind.
I am Alive, am I not? 