Etiquette and Remembering a Remarkable Man - Mang Peping Baclig

I know that when it comes to running, there's a whole unofficial etiquette to sharing the road, like saying "on your left" when you are passing someone so they know to move over, or not running more than 2 people wide so as not to take up the whole sidewalk. And these little rules all make sense because it cuts down on the confusion and makes running a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.

But what about other times? Do certain situations necesitate rules, or is just plain consideration for our fellow beings enough?   I skipped training last Saturday because I had to attend a funeral for a remarkable man, "Mang Peping" Baclig. I had the pleasure of working with him years ago on a movie called The Flipside, where he played my grandfather. Beyond delivering such a genuine performance in the film, he was - is - a hero to many for all of his great accomplishments:  father, grandfather, great-grandfather,WWII veteran, survivor of the Bataan Death March, and community advocate to name just a few. At his service, the priest read a quote from him:

I did not fight with the thought of becoming a hero. I just did what I was ordered to do but suffering such sacrifices and expecting death at any moment gave me the strength and the courage to fight. Through these trials, I have realized that there was always someone greater who was always with me,” – Faustino “Mang Peping” Baclig (February 14th 1922 – February 27th 2011)

And as the beautiful service continued and I thought about how inspirational and courageous he was, my reverie was interrupted by a series of beeps that sounded like Morse Code.  I turned around, and an older woman behind me was pressing away on her phone, sending out a text.  And I think it may have been on autotext or she possibly had an older phone where you have to scroll through the letters before you get to the one you need.  Everytime she pressed a key, the phone would make these Galaga shooting sounds and this went on for at least five minutes. How do I know?  Because it was the whole length of the eulogy.

Now I know that this may be an inappropriate topic to bring this all up, or is it?  We are so inundated with technology now that all these gadgets we possess have now possessed us.  Nowadays, if I leave the house without my cell phone, I am in constant worry about what I'm missing.  I also constantly think about what I'm doing and if it's worthy of being posted on Facebook, or this blog even.  So with all of this information that we are constantly trying to process and share at such a fast pace via Twitter/Facebook/texting/email/whatever else, do we even get the chance to breathe and assess whether or not it is appropriate? 

And yes, we are very, very busy people.  I know from my line of work that a missed call can mean missed opportunity.  Or that sometimes I text during lunch with my husband because I have to get back to so-and-so about something real quick.  Or I need to check my Facebook status to see if anyone has commented on "What's on my mind" for the day. 

But maybe, just maybe, there are times (and I'm gonna be a little facetious) that we should turn off the technology, like, say, a funeral.  And maybe, if that works well, we can turn it off, even for just a moment, when we want to really, truly connect with someone that we care about, like at dinner.  At a restaurant.  With other patrons around.  Who don't care that your budgeting for tiling is $1200 and you won't spend a penny more.  And maybe, if we want to take it just one little step further, we can turn it off for awhile, and listen, truly listen, to ourselves and the world around us. 

Mang Peping, it was an honor to know you and you will be truly missed, but I know your spirit lives on.  May you rest in peace. 

It is also with deep gratitude that I continue to thank all of those who are supporting my efforts to fundraise for the American Heart Association, especially to Yuri Yoshida and Jun and Sharon De Castro for their donations this past week.