Common Topics and Realizations

Whenever we housemates gather around the dinner table, infront of the tv, or in the bedroom, we always find something to talk about. I just noticed that some topics are usual. Like when we gather round the table to eat, expect either of two topics to emerge. The “I can’t believe I used to hate this food but now I crave it” topic or the “I can’t believe our family couldn’t afford this” topic.

I can’t believe I used to hate this food

In our homes, fish and vegetables are everyday meals. So whenever we ate out, we always ordered meat. I remember back in the College days I would never buy fried fish.

But now? My friend Keso would tell me while we are in the cafeteria line, “Fish na naman? Magkakakaliskis ka na nyan!”

I don’t know why, but the masarsa meat viands I used to love no longer appeal to me nowadays. Whenever I see fish in the menu, I always go for it, even if I had fish the entire week.

And let’s not forget the veggies. I used to hate uncooked veggies, but now I prepare my own fresh lettuce and carrot salad almost everyday. And I always insist on having sinigang na bangus whenever I eat out at restaurants.

Even at our apartment, I notice that people are enthusiastic about eating when someone fries a batch of daing or galunggong or makes inun-unan.

Yeah, very ordinary meals that we used to take for granted are suddenly our favorite. Maybe because they are not so usual anymore.

I can’t believe our family couldn’t afford this

We all came from non-rich families and were therefore deprived of certain things in life, including certain kinds of food that were too expensive for our families’ budgets.

Last time Maya was eating spam and she said, “Antes hinde gad kame tapwede kumpra ansina na casa kabar ara takome puro-puro!” (Before we couldn’t buy spam, and now I’m eating it by itself!)

Zenie and I were quick to agree, and we started to list all the food that used to be on the “we cannot afford that” or “we can afford that but only on special occasions” list and which we now could enjoy whenever we felt like it.

And of course once we get started on the food we move on to everything else that we could only dream of before but we could actually buy now, like cellphones and makeup and shoes and clothes.

And when we get there it won’t be long before we start musing that this means it’s really expensive to have a family and how we should enjoy being single for as long as possible. Moral lesson: don’t marry yet!