It was my favorite Aunt’s birthday and they were here since last weekend because their van still neded some repair, after an unfortunate accident in the express way last month. As they’ve got nothing to do, they asked me if I wanted to go strolling. I took that opportunity to ask my uncle if he can drive for me as I buy a sofa bed for our new apartment, because we needed one before we eventually move in over the weekend. A deal was done and we found our way driving to Makati to buy what I needed to buy.
Fast forward an hour later, as we were to turn left to Paseo de Roxas from Buendia Avenue, an officer was signaling us to halt and pull over the sidewalk. What just happened? I remember telling Tito that we can still turn left since the left arrow was still on green, meaning it was a legitimate turn. Then this man in yellow approached us and started droning about traffic rules, that the left arrow was no longer lit when we crossed the road. That was… weird. What can we possibly do if he were correct. Are we supposed to stop in the middle of the road? It was a clear case of damn if you do, damn if you don’t. I tried protesting the supposed violation, but he just gave a smug “Dun kayo mag-contest sa station” to us.
Well, we can’t let that event spoil our day, so we just headed straight to Glorietta. After a quick snack in McDonald’s (my nephew JB was with us, so go figure), we went straight to SM to buy a can of brown paint, and see if the sofa bed that Mon and I saw a week ago was still available. All along, I was under the impression that if we were to pay cash, we’d still get about 10% discount from SM. But alas, the listed price was the final price, so I went a little over the budget. I was about to let it go and check the other sofa bed in Landmark, when I convinced myself that it was already a good deal. And just in time, when I already informed the man attending the bed/sofa bed area, about two more groups were looking at the piece, taking pictures and asking if they accept credit card as form of payment. I think JB pretty made it clear that we are getting the bed, as it was the only one left, because he was already lying down on it. LOL We finally have a bed.
We also needed a mirror, so I went back to the area where we had seen these two mirrors (one in black and white, while the other in brown), and chose the latter because I thought brown would look better next to shades of green. And speaking of greens, I also contemplated buying some potted flowers but I am not too sure if we needed some as we were still in the process of fixing our things in the apartment. That will come soon.
We had a hard time transporting the sofa bed, though, because we were not too sure if it would fit inside the Revo. In the end, we were able to squeeze ourselves in (there were five of us, Tito’s brother Kuya Raymond was in the area, and agreed to help us), with JB just beneath the bed, while I contorted myself beside it. Indeed, if there’s a will, there’s a way. I was also delighted to see the paint settle in nicely since painting them over the weekend. The built-in cabinets looked as if they could take another coating of darker green, so there was no need for me to use the paint I had just bought. After bidding them goodbye because I was just on halfday leave, I arrived in the office hungry and waited for Mon’s training to finish before eating dinner.
On a side note, I was informed that there were few people I know who had the same experience as ours with traffic enforcers. One had the same encounter and was given the same ticket for turning left as the left arrow was allegedly no longer lit. Who knows how many times they do that every time the traffic light changes color? It now makes me wish I can just stay in that area for an hour, and observe and take photos/videos of these abusive enforcers. Also, my sister also gave an anecdote wherein an abusive enforcer was extorting motorists with the same tactic. The last thing they heard about that guy, he was shot by a trigger-happy driver. What goes around comes around. Tito eventually had to claim his license from the police station. He paid Php 500 but the damn (or should I say dumb) officers did not bother giving him a receipt. Well, it was almost dinner time so one can only surmise where that money would be going. Again, what goes around comes around and I am quite hopeful. Ganyan kami sa Makati!