Friday, December 11, 2015

Lather and nothing else: A Response Essay

*Spongebob and Patrick, buddies for life! That is how your relationship revolves now. But you know what? She could have been your queen, you could have been her king; together, you could have been your own kind of Mickey and Minnie; the living Romeo and Juliet of today…if only you tried, if only you believed...If only. *

Every step we take is a matter of life and death, well probably not as much if it was on picking what kind of cake you were going to get, but then again, all the choices we make, make us.  And believe me, for some reason,  life could not get any harder, it keeps on bombarding us with yes or no’s, a great deal of should I do it now, or will I let it go, and many other things that make us oh- so crazy!

But what should we do to get through this rocky road of decision- making?

Let us get it from ‘Lather and Nothing Else’ by Hernando Tellez- a thrilling and creditable story of a barber determining on whether to execute or not to execute an executioner who came to him for a shave; reminding us that it is very important to actually think before you act, to do the right thing even though it is hard, and at times, to accept that some things are just not meant for you.

Whenever we get too happy or too sad or too angry or overwhelmed, we tend to do things, which in our right consciousness, would never think of doing; that is when the problem comes in: when we let our emotions outweigh our intelligence. Fortunately, in Lather and Nothing Else, that was not the scenario. Because although the confusion and slight idea of persecution came shooting into the barber’s mind the moment Captain Torres went in his shop, sat down for the shaving, chatted, and most especially closed his eyes, the barber, amidst the temptation recalled the significance of not acting impulsively and weighing his possible actions first, before finally choosing what to do, thus, leading him to do the right thing which is to let the captain go out of his shop, shaved nicely and alive.

It is true that “Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same,” may it be in attaining your goals, making sacrifices, or simply in matters of life and love. It could have been hard to just give it up or to leave somebody behind, and most of the time, we do not even understand fully ‘why?’ but we do know deep inside that we should, because it is right and someday, the reason will be clear to us and we would be happy that we had made the right decision. Just like the barber who, despite the fact that he wanted so badly to kill the man as he fully deserves it for all the lives he destroyed, did not, because the barber knows that although he may be angry, he is a professional barber doing his job well and will definitely not want to be likened to the man he is shaving- a murderer.

That killing in the patio of the schoolyard should have been the last if only he did it already. He was almost there, just a speck of force and inches away. Just- one- stab- then it is done. But, the point we should remember is that there are times when we just have to let go and that ”we do not even have to understand everything, because sometimes it is not even meant to be understood, but to be accepted.” Also, maybe Captain Torres would wake up one day and change for the better and how would that happen if he is dead? The barber, by doing that also went away from staining his name permanently for an encounter that is temporary.

Every so often we regret why we were just until “almost there”. "So near, yet so far," it is said. But likening it to Hernando Tellez’s Lather and Nothing Else; the barber, just by pondering deeply before making his choices, giving worth to self- control, simply letting go of things unintended for him and by purposely missing that chance of killing the captain meant saving his life and leaving that mark of him as a good and honorable man.

*And probably, God has it all planned out; we simply have to believe that tomorrow, the sun will shine brighter and that once’ dying’ chapter will end as a 'happily ever after, after all.' Maybe one day, when you are so over with your life and you are an inch away  from bursting in tears, you'll suddenly hear a knock from your door and as you expect someone to just "end it now," instead of a knife popping out from behind, held gently in his hands is that cake you have always loved or that ice cream that makes you feel like a kid again, or fine your favorite flower or whatever;  instead of giving you a swoon with a poisoned handkerchief,  he electrocutes you with the gleam in his eyes- you just stay still, nothing coming out of your mouth; instead of killing you, he gives you an asthma attack. Lol no he hugs you so tight you cannot even breathe and instead of saying, “hands up, give me everything, or else this is the end,” he says…” just listen and forgive me in everything, please, let us start again?” and finally, your face betrays you and that smile just escapes. “Yes.”*





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