I was driving my brother to Makati early (verrrry early) this morning, and before I left the house, I already had my route planned out. It's a Sunday morning anyway, so driving along C5 would be traffic-free. I planned to drive on C5 rather than Edsa, turn into the Fort, and go to Buendia via the Buendia flyover.
No traffic, no time limit -- Sunday morning driving is a breeze. :) I was singing along to the song playing over my speakers when I suddenly realized that I did not take my planned route, but rather, was on my way to the office. GREAT. Talk about AUTO PILOT. >:( It was too impractical to turn around, so I devised an alternate route. And given that Makati has a lot of one way streets, let's just say that my "alternate route" took me so much longer, and has caused me unnecessary stress. I ended up traversing Jupiter, making a "U-turn" via Kalayaan, and then finally coming out to Makati Avenue. My Buendia plan was ruined, thanks to my lack of presence of mind. What a waste of time and gas. *grumble grumble*
Ok, so what is the point to all of this? After dropping my brother off, I found myself along Buendia, trying to recreate my plan in reverse. It will be good for one leg of the trip, at least. Going down the length of Buendia, I noticed something: there was a marathon on-going and so they closed the other side of Buendia. They closed it all the way to the Buendia flyover, ending at the Fort. If I was alert enough this morning to take my planned route, I would have been worse off.
Maybe the "autopilot" that led me to the roads I took today was fate. It made me avoid all of those closed areas, and I realized that I took the only route that was available for me to take! Wala lang, ang galing. A guardian angel, perhaps?
I have always been a big believer of guardian angels. Mine has saved my ass for many times now, and has always led me to the safer route. Who else could it be but an angel? It may seem trivial to you -- I mean, why would an angel waste his/her time guiding me through the streets of Makati, right? Small beans -- but every little thing has a purpose. Maybe Nemaruel (that's the name of my guardian angel, according to Sir O. Hehe) doesn't want me to get stressed out today. Or maybe she wanted me to be home early, in order to write this blog. Who knows what the heavens have planned for me, right? Hehe.
Here are my other encounters:
(1) The most famous story of my childhood: how I got lost during the People Power rally in Luneta when I was just 4 years old. I got up from my family's picnic blanket and followed my dad (who was on his way to the toilet). I ended up following the wrong pair of knees (I could only see up to that level), and I was lost for 15 minutes or so. My parents always love telling others the story of how they were panicking, trying to figure out how to find a little girl wearing a yellow shirt in a crowd of people all wearing yellow shirts, and when, after an excruciating 15 minutes, I just sauntered (if little girls could saunter) back into the picnic area, oblivious of all the hysteria I caused. My parents always say that it's my guardian angel who brought me back.
(2) I was a freshman in college, and I just learned how to commute. One Saturday, I was in MegaMall (I forget for what), and I had to commute all the way to Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to meet up with my parents. I took the MRT (or, wait, did I take a bus?), and I successfully made it to Mindanao Avenue! Yay me! Now all I had to do was to take a jeep along Mindanao Avenue, and go down in front of my dad's office. Piece of cake, right? I immediately rode the jeep which I assumed was for Mindanao Ave. (I didn't look at the destination written on the side anymore...It was parked along Mindanao, and it was facing the direction I was supposed to go!) OF COURSE, it was the wrong jeep, and I found myself en route to U.P. Diliman. I panicked, and shouted "para!" to the driver, without really looking at where I was. I went down in front an informal settlement along the Philippine Science road. I tried flagging down a taxi, but no one would take me. It was already dark, and it was raining, at naki-silong lang ako sa payong ng katabi ko. :(( After a while, 2 small boys -- approximately 10-12 years of age -- approached me. "Ate, di ka taga-dito ah, nawawala ka ba?" I guess they've been observing me from the start. When I didn't answer, they said "Tulungan ka namin kumuha ng taxi!" and they proceeded running after passing taxis, leaning out precariously from the side of the road to force taxis to stop, even running to the other side of the road to flag down taxis from there. But no, if the taxis weren't stopping for a semi-drenched teenage girl, they weren't going to stop for 2 street kids either. I was so distressed that I told them, thanks, but I think I'll just have to walk from here to Mindanao Ave. "Ate, sasamahan ka namin, delikado maglakad diyan, lalo na sa kanto!" And so the three of us walked side-by-side, until we reached the place where the jeeps were. After they led me to the right jeep, I sat on the seat nearest the door, I turned to thank them and handed them a 20 peso bill. "Wag na, ate, tulong na namin yun sayo, ingat nalang po kayo." With that, they ran off, and when I looked out the window, they were gone. 2 good samaritans...2 guardian angels. :) How could you not believe that those 2 were sent by God? God bless 'em. :) I wonder where they are now...
