Busses, Jeepneys, Cars,
Bullet Trains and Motorbikes keep coming and going, to the left and right of my
eyesight. People are ubiquitously congested, as if they are running out of
time. Some of them end their day happily, some ends sad; while the others, don’t
mind the time. Staring at this busy place, whilst sitting while having a hot
cup of coffee at a Mini Stop Shop, it let me bring to mind my 70 days of heart
breaking experiences within the Aurora Boulevard, Cubao Quezon City, the Philippines.
Truth or dare, walking
along the boulevard will surprise everyone, meeting with some heart captivating
people who would dry you up of money if you are weedy. A gorgeous individual as
younger as 18 or as older as 40s if this is your savor would favors to complete
your day of “pleasure”. They glare like a midnight sun that you could not
easily recognize their epoch in a dim moonlight; after you come nearer to their
eyesight and there, you would discern the bonafide one. It only depends if you
can hold your urge, not to waste your bucks for this short time “Fun”.
Likewise, at far
distance, you would recognize stray dogs in the dark, sitting along the busy
road staring at passersby, waiting by chances to give them food to satisfy their
desire. While the rest do scavenging for left-over foods in the public trash.
As you come nearer, there you will end a teary eye, because “It comes out
HUMAN!” and shocking some are with babies, whilst the rest, elders but yet they
are seemly hopeless and abandoned in a blanket of darkness. Do you have the
extra cash? You share or else your consciences will fret you up!
Correspondingly,
sidewalk food vendors are busy selling their foods in their filthy bare hands
and they do not care about the good hygiene in all their ways, as long as they
can profit in the midst of the polluted air (vehicle fumes), it will solve
their clammy days even in darkness. Not only that, but also you will meet a
dreamy eyes of the innocent child selling porn CDs instead of being at home in
bed at night, with a story books in their hands.
Now what really puts me
into test? Is my mouth not to speak but my thoughts convincing me to write? As
I visited in the different government offices and staring at their office wall
there hang the pictures of the proud “Men of Valor”. Same thing as posted in
newspaper ads, magazines and television commercials as if they will show you
“For I am an honorable man!” They live in a glamorous life, and they
are arrogantly said “I am a self-made man.”
In essence, it is now called
self obsession mentality or they say it sometimes a narcissistic personality
disorder (NPD) that pushes them to be arrogant and later corruptions began. Point
often overlooked, is their demand for recognition as a superior being and the
most awkward is their abandonment of their duties due to the lack of
understanding about their commitments. Thus, it reduces the welfare that is
supposedly for the needy but it goes to the people in care. As a result, it
increases the population of “abandoned nomads” who practices unhealthy lifestyle
that becomes a detrimental to the public, as well as to the country in
universal.
Accordingly, NPD person
is hard to recognize because they spend a lot of time creating a façade to
protect their ego. Biologically, every human has a small degree of narcissism
once we were born and it will just fades as we grow older, if well nurtured
from parents who always attend our basic needs. This stage is so-called a
primary narcissism. As the child reach adulthood, they will learn a solid
coping skill, to deal effectively with life disappointments and develop them
into responsible adulthood.
On the contrary, if a
child experiences severe disappointment or senses of abandonment during
childhood, and as they grow older they tend to revert to primary narcissism
stage. That is already called secondary narcissism and may be diagnosed as
narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) during adulthood, which resulted towards
a lack of empathy for others, sadistic or destructive tendencies towards other
people and a compulsion to satisfy personal needs without regard for others.
These individuals tend to avoid deep friendships and commitments as well as,
they are unable to put the needs of others ahead of their own. (Reference:
Narcissism a self-love defense mechanism, Narcissistic Personality Disorder is
a Mental Health Issue, By Karen Stephenson, April 16, 2009).
Although this may be
true, most of the top rank officials are self-made personality. Therefore they
might be diagnosed as lifetime NPD adults. But the point here is not to put
boundary to anyone, to achieve what they want to be. But if ever someone cannot
control it. Reflect in a moment of “What you can give? Instead of, “What you
can get?”
Furthermore, Narcissism
came from a Greek Mythology name called Narcissus. He is a handsome young man
who saw his reflection in a water pool and fell in love with it. In modern
times Narcissus often goes online watching himself in Facebook profile, adoring
his/her pictures often times during office hours but felt unaware that he
already disregarded his other duties and obligation at work. Not knowingly that
he/she commit the very first nature of corruption. Just to remember Algernon
Sidney said: “If vice and corruption prevails, liberty cannot subsist; but if
virtues have the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established.”
Sooner as I
sip back my cup of coffee… unnoticed its empty and it let me understood that, I
could not save and heal all the myriad hopeless nomads within the Aurora
Boulevard because the coffee that I can consume is only limited within the
capacity to my cup. But I live it for the rest of the humanity to think of what
they can do.
