SIGN OF THE TIMES : Buhay Alamang; Part 2- My Solomonic Sabrina

By: Danny S. Villanueva



Sabrie and I are sometimes hopeless with the usual chores required to maintain an orderly household. Once, when the handle of a faucet broke, she asked me to fix it. After a half-hour of effort, I concluded that the easiest solution would be to leave the pliers by the sink and turn the tap with them each time water was needed. When I told her of my brilliant plan, she brightened. "Oh, good, " she said. "And I'll borrow your daughters' stapler." "What for?" I asked. "I've got your buttons to sew and that hole in your pocket to fix and ….." I bought a new faucet handle in a jippy. #Dg


Upon arrival at home, I was eager to please Sabrie by forcing a demonstration on the merits of the new and cheap Korean brand vacuum cleaner I just bought from the Duty Free shop at Clark Field. First, I scattered coffee grounds all over the floor and said to her, "Alam mo, Ma, I'll eat every bit of that stuff that my new super-duper vacuum cleaner doesn't pick up." Upon seeing this, Sabrie started to rush to get something. "Where are you going?" I called her. "Para kumuha ng kutsara, ano pa," she replied. "We have not had any electricity since two hours ago." Naloko na. # Dg

In the evenings, I like to go around wearing my old, butas-butas na white de-hilo T-shirt which Sabrie saved as my favorite and most comfortable pantulog. One night, I answered a ring at the gate and found our lady neighbor standing there. "I stopped by to tell Sabrie that it will be a few more weeks I can pay the P2,000 I owe her," she explained. Embarrassed at the realization that I was wearing a "rag" kind of shirt, I said to her, "Oh, that's alright. I've been wearing this kind of shirt for so long now that I am used to it." Next day, the woman was back with the money. #Dg

Here in our home in Tarlac, we have fruit trees (kayomito/star apple, santol, chico, duhat and mabolo) in the yard. At the backside of our yard we have our Korean neighbor's mango (Sabrie's favorito) tree very close to our fence. Does the fruit belong to the owner of the land on which the tree grows or to the neighbor on whose land the fruit falls? This age-old question was resolved neatly by my Solomonic wife, Sabrina. As Mayette, our maid, collected the mangos that had fallen on our side of the fence, our neighbor's maid came over and said that she had intended gathering the mangos herself. Mayette complained to Sabrie. "That's fine," agreed Sabrie. That she added, "Tell the neighbor's maid not to forget to pick up the leaves, too." Ayos. #Dg

Every year during the Tarlac fiesta, the long stretch of Tanedo Street on both sides is converted to a flea market. Sabrie would bring along her close lady friends joyfully to shop around. Sabrie came into a kitchen utensil shop and told the saleslady that she had P500 to spend. She began selecting inexpensive items until she had a carton of items: kawali, sandok, butcher's knife, tadtaran, pangkayod ng yelo, etc. After a few price adjustments, the good saleslady told her that her selections would come exactly P500. As Sabrie handed the money all in one bill, she said, "I'd like a centavo change please." The saleslady looked puzzled, for Sabrie went on: "When my husband gave me the P500 this morning and he said, 'Don't spend all of it!' Now when I get home, I can honestly tell him I didn't. He doesn’t need to know how close I was." #Dg