The Power of His Smile...


I was on my way to work (Yes, I have a new part-time job!) and while the jeepney I was riding was caught in traffic, a little beggar boy got inside and started wiping our feet/shoes with his dirty piece of rag. Afterwards, he waited for people to spare him some coins or probably some left-over food or something. This isn’t really new to me. Having been used to taking the jeepney, cheapest public transportation in the Philippines, I have also become used to seeing sights of this kind. The beggars around Metro Manila would always make me feel either disillusionment in the Philippines, remorse within myself, and/or gratitude to God for not making me a street beggar.

But, yesterday afternoon, what caught my attention was the little boy’s disposition. Only one or two of the passengers gave him some coins and another gave him some cookies. He was so happy at what he got that he couldn’t wipe this huge grin off his face. He almost looked funny. He showed his treasure of a cookie to his friends and clutched it close to his heart. Since our jeepney wasn’t about to move yet, he sat down for a while, still smiling. One of the passengers (the one seated next to him) told him to go and get off the jeepney, but the boy was too happy to listen or even hear him. As the light was about to turn green, he went off and I saw him playing tag with some of his friends in the middle of the street, amid the rushing automobiles. And, the smile stayed… and even grew wider and wider.

I couldn’t get that smile out of my head because it was the kind of smile that showed genuine happiness and contentment. The little boy in dirty, torn clothes was truly happy and contented with the cookies and the two one-peso coins he got. That kind of happiness and contentment hit something within me. Seeing the boy so happy and contented made me feel very happy for him and rather ashamed of myself.

Ashamed of myself? Yes… myself and other people like me! My parents, aunts, uncles, older brothers and sisters have always given me everything that I wanted or liked so long as they can afford to give. All my life, I have been sheltered, pampered and very well taken care of that not until I came to Manila did I realize that everything I saw on TV or in the movies about poverty was actually true. All my life, I have always thought of how people around the world suffered and how I wanted to help each and every one of them, if possible. Now, I just laugh that off. I used to cry for people who were hard up. I still do, at times, but ever since I came face to face with poverty and hopelessness, I just lost it. That probably meant I've grown up, I've matured. I couldn’t cry for other people any more than I could cry for myself. I found out that the easy life I was so used to wasn’t really that easy. I learned of the value of money and reluctantly admitted that money, in one way or another, made the world go round!

Now, I go to school as an “Iskolar ng Bayan” and I am supported by my folks. I don’t have anything to complain about. I don’t have too much money, but I never really run out of it. I have enough money to spend going out and having fun with friends every now and then. I have enough money to buy some extra things that I like, but I don't really need. And, recently (just this week), I’ve gotten a new part-time job and that would add some more pesos in my pocket. I’m waiting for a call from yet another company offering another part-time job. And, lastly, I’m planning to apply for a permanent job next semester. As they say, “strike while the iron is hot!”

Then, I saw that smile… With everything that I have, have I ever smiled that way? I have more than enough, but still I can’t stop looking for more. Have I ever really felt contented and happy with everything that I have that I can just sigh and smile the way that little boy did? Well, yes, probably… I can’t really tell.

And, I ask myself, “what do I really want from life?” It’s obvious; I want to conquer the world! I want to have everything that I ever wanted and wished for! But, then again, after I get all these, everything that I want, would I smile like that little boy did? And then, I wonder, again, is it really money that makes the world go round? Right now, I’m actually smiling at the thought…


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