A month ago, I dreamt I was walking to work when I saw a dead man lying on the street. It was a busy day. A lot of people were walking...walking past the bloody dead man on the street. None of them cared. I was shocked. Hysterical, even. I remember calling out to the nearest person to me and asking why are there aren't any police on the area. Or why did they just pass by the body as if it was as unimportant as the piece of candy wrappers and strewn garbage surrounding the lifeless man? They only gave me a ridiculous look, saying I was acting strange and that a dead man on the street is as normal as the pile of garbage dumped around him.
In that dream, no one but me cared that a life was lost...that a life was taken.
Today, that dream came true.
This morning was as busy as the day in my dream. I was walking down my usual route to work, headphones blaring on my ears, wishing this morning's traffic wasn't bad. As I turned the corner, I saw it. A man lay dead on the street.
The area was surrounded by the familiar yellow police line. Inside, three policemen stood. I stopped for a moment, my eyes drawn to the huge housefly repetitively flying back and forth from the dead man's bare dirty feet. I didn't notice any blood, but I did notice two to three pieces of cardboards lying near the body. Nothing was written on it, or maybe the police flipped it over. I do not know.
I passed by the body and walked on like the people passing by that street. All of us hurried to wherever we're headed to. As I climbed unto the jeepney, I remembered my dream and I realized I acted exactly the same as the people in my dream.
I wasn't shocked when I saw the body. A part of me knew I'm bound to see one. What even shocked me more was that I didn't feel concerned about the dead person. I didn't care that I saw a man who will never get to see the light of day again.
I shrugged it off and thought that maybe I acted that way because there were already policemen there and that I didn't know the man personally. Yet, at the back of my mind I wondered when did I become apathetic?
Today, my dream from last month came true - only this time I am wide awake in the apathetic society that is now my reality.
