Ang 'Magtataho' (The 'Taho' Vendor)

Two days for a weekend seems not enough. Before I knew it I was up again for my usual four am routine of boarding a jeep going to a bus terminal that will transport me back to city life and back to the reality. I was on board a jeep pondering thoughts of how quiet and laid back life is in the province - fresh air, green surroundings, less noise, less people, and most of all no rush hour! Such tranquility will drive people like me into deep thoughts. 

While doing my silent 'wanderings', I saw onboard a physically well-built man. He was fighting back the to urge to sleep although he was drowsing. By the look on his face, he is probably close to forties but I suppose he is a bit younger than my estimates. His eyes mirror something like grimness, his face shows some wrinkles and I guess, it may be because of all the physical hardships he'd endure in life. In front of him were two large aluminum buckets full of taho. He is a 'magtataho'. That explains for his broad shoulders, hauling those buckets whole day is like a full day upper body workout. While taking a few side glances on his face, I was thinking of his family. How many children does he have? How many are in school? Is his earnings enough to support his family? Is he happy and contented with his life?

When we reached the city proper of Angeles City, he called in the driver to stop on the sidewalk. He bent down while putting the long wooden plank over his shoulders and began muscling his way, back first, going down the jeepney. I've seen how his muscles on his shoulders, arms and legs flex obviously for the great physical effort he was exerting balancing the two full buckets of taho. That's when I noticed, he was wearing only a worn out rubber slippers. How could his feet survive a long walk on a blistering heat under his feet? I guess he'd become too used to all the physical effort of his task that walking on a heated streets of cobblestones, bricks, concrete or dirt is bearable compared to not selling out and going home to his family empty handed.

I was expecting he was going to shout out calling for customers but I've seen him walking probably going to the outskirts of the city where his frequent buyers are waiting.
This is just a very usual sight as I am used to seeing 'magtataho' all over the place in Makati. 

But it was the closer look of that 'magtataho' that inspired me to write this and the realization that after all the blessings I have received from God, I still find myself fretting over something petty and capricious. That sometimes it feels like all the world's burden has been laid down on my shoulder. That after seeing that man move his way, knee bent, crouching as if taking his ready mark to get up and battle with life's challenges, I felt a pang of shame. I was compelled to stop magnifying my struggles, to count my blessings and be thankful. Sometimes we need to look around us to realize that struggles we feel is so much petty compared to the burden others have. 

Although I haven't seen the smile on the face of a man I've seen very early today, I have seen the determination in his every move. As he gazed towards his destination, there fixed in his a face a resolute belief that his day will be spent with a purpose. I'm sure that he is striving to make ends meet. I'm sure he's harboring thoughts of wanting to have proper foot wear to walk on, of wanting to have a better job that pays more. But I know, somehow that man is also blessed. In a different way than I am.

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The story above is my own, a distant memory that happened nine years ago, back in the Philippines when I was still single and working in Makati CBD. Back then, I was renting a bed space in a cramped shared space called boarding house, staying there for two weeks and going back home to the province of Pampanga which was a 5 to 6-hour commute back and forth during rush hour (that includes the traffic and the waiting in line in the train station).