I first heard this line from a Robin Williams movie back in 1998 where he plays a former patient wanting to become a doctor.  It was somewhere between his love being killed off by one of their patients when he started doubting the human ability to show compassion.

Who could blame him?

I spent the week in Antipolo with Marga and Bianca, probably two of my most favorite people.  It was Wednesday morning when Marga told me that one of her (Assumption) sisters was shot in the head after a holdup.  From what I first learned, her laptop was stolen and she was trying to take it back, almost like a tug of war.  Never did she think that it would be a tug away from being the longest episode of her life.

I don’t know this girl, but the familiarity of the situation made me know her.  One of her teachers back in high school wrote this bittersweet piece for her (click here) recounting the longest morning of Tara Santelices.  She was with her best friend when the ordeal happened, on their way home to Cainta.  After hearing the gunshot, inspite of her best friend’s evident panic, the jeepney driver still opted to let the passengers get off according to their destination.  When they got to the clinic, the driver left them.  Joee, Tara’s best friend, has to scream to get some attention.  The clinic refused to admit them because they can’t help Tara.  Joee had to carry Tara to the cab, all of her 5’2″ strength.

The time… it’s almost nauseating how much time was wasted.  How much energy Tara could have saved.  How much hope Joee could have still had. 

Is this statement really true?  Are we the only species who kill our own kind?  Are we, the ones granted the greatest gift of rationale, the ones who can’t even think straight? 

It’s a big question for a Sunday morning, and I apologize for those who’d be bothered.  But we should be bothered.  We should be aware.  We have become practical, too practical in fact that we lost the things that we should value the most.

Compassion.  Strength.  Courage.

Can we blame the robber who was trying to make ends meet?  Can we blame the driver for trying to meet his boundary and bring home a somewhat okay wage?  Can we blame the passengers for rushing home to their families?  Can we blame Tara and Joee for being out to celebrate a milestone in Tara’s life? 

In the end, it only comes down to that one moment, that one minute where you put compassion on top of earning, going home, and making a living.  That one moment, that one small moment, will define who you really are as a person.

Funny how two ladies turned out to be a cut above the rest.

To Joee, you’re the best friend a person can ever have.
To Tara, the fight isn’t over.