MY FRIEND’S USUAL UNUSUALNESS

Veni. Vidi. Vici.
Mariel Ratani C. Balitao

“Do you know what it’s like when it’s wrong but it feels so right? Dada dada dadada.” says Paris Hilton on her song Nothing in this World. Is there really pleasure on doing something wrong? What about doing something that people doesn’t usually do, unusual huh? Maybe there’s something usual in doing something odd.

Everyone spends their leeway by doing things that make them happy and satisfied. But some people are not so into the stereo-types. They hate doing what others usually do. I remember an episode of a magazine show that featured a man named Mang Rolando. He collects soft drinks bottle. He just enjoys seeing how each soft drink brand packaging evolves through the years. Then I remembered another collection, clowns by Master Showman German Moreno. Whatever it is that has clown on it, regardless of the price, he’ll have it. And mind you, he got different pieces from all over the globe.

I ‘ve known R.A. (just his initials) since I entered college. R.A. collects anything, as in anything he finds nice, he will get it. But R.A. seems to have a different definition of nice. He get things from public places, and takes it as a remembrance. One time, we were passing an LRT station when we saw a poster of Bong Revilla’s Resiklo. Minutes later, R.A. revealed something from his bag. He got the poster. Great! We are always surprised by how R.A. gets things from different places. He is so unpredictable. A jeepney’s fare matrix, restaurant menus, tiles from PUP Bulwagan Balagtas’ floor, bus seat covers, utensils and bowls from food chains, signboards, stands, and many others. “No, I’m no klepto! They won’t care if they lost those things anyway.” R.A. would always insist on that.

Kleptomania, by definition, is the re-current urge to steal, typically without regard for need of profit. Technically, R.A. is a klepto. He finds pleasure in getting things that he doesn’t buy. Those things he gets are not available in the market. “That’s why I collect it, it can not be bought”. R.A. has a point there. Where in the hell could we buy bus seat covers in retail? Jeepney fare matrix? Or those signboards? For whatever reason, R.A. feels content when he does “get”; not steal, these things.

When asked whether he feels guilty at times, R.A. says yes. He believes somehow that it’s wrong, but not so wrong.. Maybe one day, R.A. will grow tired of adding up things to his collections. He said he’ll find a more lucrative and conducive past time soon. And I’ll be more than happy to see my friend divert his attention to other things, with R.A.’s unpredictable nature, nothings impossible.

We all have our own fetish. That’s usual. What makes my friend unusual is his plethoric adventurousness in making himself happy. But he’s like any other hobbyist. He does his craft for passion, not for nothingness. If I have a passion for passion, R.A. got the passion for his acquisition. Who knows , R.A. might be in the Guinness years from now. That’s something to be proud of! =)