In my pre-covid19 life, visits to Makati mean meeting my friend Anne for a hotel staycation and an entire day to our favorite interconnected malls. I usually visit the home section of Landmark for the best decors and kitchenware. SM Makati's food court offers the best takoyaki, houses H&M Home and Crate & Barrel. There's also Glorietta, whose floor plan never fails to make me lose my sense of direction. :p Getting lost in Glorietta meant landing to National Bookstore that houses an extensive stationery collection from Kate Spade, kikki.K and all the luxurious brands carried by Rustan's. Lastly, there's Greenbelt providing the best view in the middle of the busy city. The chapel, garden, coffee shops, restaurants and the wing showcasing Hermes and all the European brands.

I had good memories in Makati's business district.  I closed a number of freelance projects in Seattle's Best and other coffee shops. I meet a few friends before Christmas either in Italianni's or Contis. Sometimes, I would cap the long day at the nearby Mom and Tina's Bakery. 

Yesterday, I had the need to visit Greenbelt 3. Everything felt different now. A lot of shops are closed. The chapel and garden, which should now be well lighted and decorated for Halloween and  later, Christmas, are dark and empty. The atmosphere was melancholy and it felt like everyone was struggling to keep life going.

Our National Government is further loosening quarantine policies, even with the continuous increase in covid19 cases. I can't help but feel envious of our neighboring Asian countries. Thailand and Vietnam learned from AH1N1. Today, citizens of these two countries are having better lives. 

Like any other citizen or make that, taxpayer, we have to continue working and hope that government officials also do their share. In my opinion, being a government official (elected or appointed), entails contributing successful solutions and maintaining the highest degree of professionalism. This includes behaving well, even in social media. One Mocha Uson is enough. Another insensitive and useless comment is disrespect to taxpayers and a screaming proof that some government officials are unfit for their positions. They love their positions, but not the accountabilities that come with it. To be honest, this is not the first time I've seen that spokesperson render insensitive and unbecoming comments in social media. 

Years ago, I remember attending a seminar on proper workplace behavior. I'll never forget one of the points raised by the resource speaker. He said, behaving well while wearing our uniforms anywhere leaves positive impression to the company. People will eventually equate our professionalism and behavior to the image of the company we represent. I believe it works the same for government. One way for people to develop trust and respect to the government is to observe a refined and respectful behavior among its officials. Yesterday, I heard this government official even went to the NBI to trace netizens throwing personal attacks agains her. I rest my case. I have teacher colleagues, who received below the belt comments from students, used as memes and cursed on social media platforms. No one ever filed a case in NBI or at least the Student Affairs Office. They went on with their jobs simply because contributing is way better than social media blabbering.
 


Speaking of teaching, we are halfway the semester. There's still more work ahead. My office work also speaks the same. I miss those days when I can sleep without worries, enjoy Netflix endlessly and read books because I have all the time in the world. 

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!