Good Friday Isn't so Good for me

Well, Holy Week is over and its time to go back to work. The week had been most boring, especially Good Friday, which I consider the laziest and most boring day in the Philippine calendar. All the establishments are closed: theaters, malls, and, hell, even the gym where I work out every morning.

GOOD FRIDAY
I woke up at about 10 this morning with a little headache. Thank God the incantations that had been blaring all-night long because of the Pasyon reading in our neighborhood had already ended early this morning. Now the silence only added gloom to the general stillness of the day.

What to do at this boring day? Watching TV doesn't help either. All the TV channels seem to be showing nothing except the story of Christ, or Cecille B. De Mille's Ten Commandments, which I have watched for the nth time since I was a kid.

I turned on the radio, just in time to hear an announcer say a few passages of the Bible in almost monotonic voice.

I decided to take a walk outside to strech my legs. There are very few people outside. Only some small kids quietly playing with their toys are all that I can see. A soft breeze of wind blew, making the leaves of the nearby trees grisle with their familiar sounds. I felt like Charlton Heston in the 1970s movie Omega Man where he played the last man on earth.

I walked towards Edsa.. With the exception of few cars passing by from time to time, the thoroughfare seemed desolated. The familiar shops are closed, and only a few people are within sight. Everyone seemd to be on a holiday.

The streets are almost empty, the shops are closed. Only a few people are within sight. This is the familiar sight of a normal Good Friday. Normal?

Going back to my apartment, I decided that the best thing to do at this time is to eat. I resolved not to eat meat this day, wether fish or pork. Fortunately there are plenty of fruits stocked in my fridge: ripe mangoes, guyabanos, pinya and, singkamas.

I peeled off the skin of two ripe mangoes, only leaving a small part unpeeld at the edge so I can hold it while gulping the sweet flesh. Hmmm. Very sweet, the juice is dripping down my arms and into my shirt. I didn't care. I went to shower, felt the fresh water all over my body. Changed my clothes, went to my workstation to check my emails. There was nothing...my goodness, even my emails-so numerous on other days-stopped coming at Good Friday. No one, not even spam emails reached my computer. It seemed that even the internet had stopped this day.

I checked the blogs I usually visit but not one of my friends had updated theirs. It seemed that everyone is on vacation. Well, this is enough. Bored with the internet, I turned off my computer and began playing some of my favorite music cd's.

First, a piano selection of Chopin's sonatas played by Edwin Fischer. The poignant and melancholic sound of Chopin's Nocturnes, so wonderful to listen to on other times, now added sadness to my whole being. I turned it off, and played an aria by Verdi, but no, this doesn't work either. The sopranos enchanting incantations reminded me of the Pasyon.

No, music won't let me out of this gloomy feeling now. I still feel guilty of not doing any worthwhile thing. I turned off the cd player and asked myself what to do next. Well, I have been very busy all year long, almost to the point of burning out myself, all with this business things, and sleeping very late at night because of the internet.

Can't I give myself this day, as a bonus, and take time to rest (as all others are resting), and stop from worrying about future work? Why not? I turned on the airconditoner, dropped myself onto the bed, and began to sleep.

Indeed, sleeping the whole day is an activity I haven't done for so many years. And Good Friday is just the perfect day for it. Ho-hum.