Sunday, February 04, 2007
Grown DownMy good friend Andre Suarez would always say, "Time waits for no man." He's always been right about that. In one way or another, we're all feeling it. We are getting older. It's a phenomenon that we, no matter how hard we try, cannot escape. I've always said that at the moment I start using the phrase, "Noong panahon namin.." it means that I am, regrettably, getting older (if not old). And once or twice, yes, I have caught myself using that reference. I don't know what it is but all of a sudden, I feel as if time is passing too quickly. Wasn't it just yesterday that our biggest problems amounted to breaking that vase in the kitchen and having to face the terror and anxiety of thinking what to do? Wasn't it just a few hours ago when that hardest question asked to us was 532 x 65? Wasn't it just about now when drugs, sex and pregnancy weren't issues we ever had to deal with? I mean WHOA. Where have all the simple days gone? And the scary part is, it's only going to get more and more complicated.
I was skimming this
website that my friend, Vicka showed me. Basically, it's about bringing back the 90's. As I went through each aspect of my dwindling childhood, I started to get really nostalgic. Ahhh. I remember the days of Power Rangers, Lamb Chops Play-along, Ghostwriter, Little Lulu, and yes, even Jem and The Holograms. Everyday, the routing would be the same. We'd go home, watch TV and wait for our favorite shows patiently. Where have those days gone? Now, kids start watching the OC, One Tree Hill, and even CSI way too early. I didn't move up to sitcoms and such until I was practically a teenager. And to add to that, with the wonders of DVD's, Youtube and Alluc, such shows we used to wait for are now available on demand. We're having it so easy these days.
I remember back in gradeschool, after each day, we'd all be on the field by the roadway playing games with each other. Be it Ice-Ice-Water, Langit-Lupa, Sipa, Teks, Patintero, Agawan Base, Looking-For-Shiny-Rocks-On-The-Ground, Playing-With-Hairy-Worms, we'd always be active and alert. Sure we had our Gameboys of old, the simple, monotone LCD screened giants, but we'd all still prefer to put a lot of action (real action) in our free time. Now, when I see kids, they don't have to play all those games we did in real life, their PSP's and Nintendo DS's can do it for them. Maybe their hand-held consoles already have Ice-Ice-Water in them, and they can all play with each other via Bluetooth! Soon, games like the ones we had would be reduced to nothing more than another "Ano yun?" by the succeeding generations. I mean, really, do any of our younger siblings still play Sipa or Tumbang Preso?
Back when I was younger, thinner and quicker (ah, such times have passed all too quickly), I used to be one of those basketball players who would die to get a shot. Scoring points would be the utmost importance as I epitomized the term Boy-Pilit in the game. I would go coast to coast, against three defenders, refusing to hear calls from open teammates, and generally trying a bit too hard thinking I could be the next Anfernee Hardaway (before the LBJ's and Melo's and D-Wade's). Where has that all led to? Now, I can feel it, I'm only a year or two older than the freshmen I play with at school but I can distinctly feel the difference. They're faster, stronger, more efficient scorers than I've ever been. I can no longer run with the best/rest of them. I get irritated by those who DO go coast to coast and keep fastbreak-ing like there's always just three seconds left in the game. I (almost) no longer take the wild erratic shots that I have been so accustomed to. I prefer to slow things down and (try to) execute efficient offense. My knees start aching 20 minutes into the game (may tubig na ako sa tuhod). My calves start cramping up after 30. I'm only 18 and I already feel like my "basketball career" is waning towards non-existence.
Back in the early pubescent years, the angsty, why-doesn't-anyone-understand-me years, we all thought that love and romance was as complicated as it would get. Why doesn't she text back? Do you think she likes me? How should I begin to text her? Is it okay to call her up at home? How do I hold her hand in the movies? What's in a kiss? We all thought that the answers to these questions would take us to teenage-relationship paradise. As the She's All That's and Ten Things I Hate About You's have shown us possible. I never thought I'd be thinking and feeling the way I would now, five years ago. I remember thinking, back when I was 13, that I had the most complicated and demeaning problems in the whole world (well, it WAS bad; I mean, the girl I was falling for left me for another WOMAN, at 13. Beat that.) and I predicted that by 18, I would be older, more mature, and problem-free. The thing is, I didn't think that our problems would grow and mature like we do. Even faster that us. Now, the problems we deal with involve pregnancies, sex, friendships forged and ruined, and REAL heartbreak. When we were younger we thought heartbreak would be getting rejected by the girl we were "in love with." But now, being plainly rejected is actually letting you off easy. With all the drama, sidebars and details that come with "rejection," it gets a whole lot more complicated than that.
Save the "Bata ka pa!" lectures. I know I'm still young. But honestly, at 18, I can and will say that I've been through a lot. More than most people my age I'd say (But that would be being arrogant). I'm glad and grateful that after all of it, I'm still alive and well. Through the rises and falls, we've all learned how to get by. It's scary to think that all of this is only going to get harder and harder. It's even scarier to know that all of this is only going to get harder and harder. One thing I can conclude is that growing up sucks. What with the new generation and the way they're growing up (soooo fast), it's only going to get suckier. I miss going home from school, watching cartoons, taking a nap and playing with my Sega Genesis. I miss the feeling of "kilig." I miss the simpler days. And through it all, because of all this, I'm missing my childhood.
the adventure ended at 8:57 AM
