Keri?
I don’t know what I did so right to deserve such wonderful gifts.
When I got to work in the afternoon, one of my colleagues, a midwife,
gave me a number of diecast cars. I took
photos of only two of them.
There were two Pontiac Firebirds.
Except for the color, the black one looks very much like the Firebird in
the Wonder Woman 1984 film.
The rest were remarkable enough but my eyes zeroed in on these two: the
red Ferrari Competizione and the white Toyota Crown Majesta.
I doubt one can find this Ferrari anywhere easily. It’s quite rare these days.
The Crown uninvitedly reminded me of the large, maroon Crown (which was
as large, if not larger, than the finback Mercedes Benz) which my family of
origin had when I was a child.
My colleagues know I collect diecast cars. They see my miniatures posted on my Facebook
wall. I bring one to work, a Majorette
Audi A1.
Ma’am Anne, the midwife, collected scale model cars when she was in Hong
Kong in 2005. The very gesture itself is
so heartwarming, but I politely declined.
The Ferrari, because of its rarity, should be able to fetch at least a
thousand bucks.
The cheapest Crown Majesta currently is over 1,300 pesos. It goes much higher in Western countries, as
high as over 4,000 pesos.
I asked Ma’am Anne to bequeath her toys to her children and
grandchildren in case they ever need financial aid someday. Toys may not be of great help in times of
financial crises, but help they can in ways only a person in need can fathom.
And, I am reminded of how Ma’am Anne, in the concrete jungle of Hong
Kong away from home, found joy collecting these replicas.
I don’t know, it’s not for me to say, if I’m a good doctor. Char.
But, I try to be good to my colleagues.
These beautiful toys tell me I must have done something right.
===
“Keri” is the Tagalized form, the transliteration, of “carry.” It usually means good or refers to something
positive.
Examples:
Is he handsome enough? Keri.
Was that good enough? Keri.
Are you amenable to a swap? Keri.
“Char” is short for charing. It
is a gay expression that has become part of Filipino slang. It means “just kidding” or “joking” and is
meant to take back what was said previously.
===
The gift giving occurred on 8 February 2021, Monday.
