Chronicles Revealed

Chapter 2: Passing By

He was always good in class even though he didn't really study that hard.  If he did, he would have been in the top 10 of the class.  He was not exactly interested in honors.  It was too nerdy for him.  He just wanted to go through school with the least hassle for him with a little glory on the side.  Even at a very young age, he wanted life to be still enjoyable amidst all the  rules and regulations of school and life itself.  Like everyone else, he had an all-consuming goal and it was to be happy.  John Lennon once said that happiness is the purpose of life and my son firmly believed in it.

Your son, sir, has some behavioral issues.  He has problem remaining in his seat when he is done  with his class work, the teacher informed me in a tone that expressed concern and admiration at the same time for the natural skills of my son.  More often than not, in seat works and exams, he would finish ahead of the rest. To keep him from disturbing the other students and keep him in his seat I would give him another set of exam or seat-work to keep him occupied.  He roams around the class room when he is not doing anything anymore but he would still finish ahead despite the extra exam or seat work.  Sometimes he would submit a test paper with many unanswered questions and would just tell me that he didn't know the answers to the questions, the teacher disclosed. 

He is  a very daring and active child, the teacher further stated.  You often see him perform acrobatic stunts on the grounds during breaks.  Last week, the principal saw him on the rooftop and then jumped to the ground.  It was not that high but he could have twisted his ankle and give the school something to worry about. The principal had some health issues and almost collapsed seeing the exhibition your son did.

Upon learning that he was the nephew of her physician, the principal asked the doctor to tell us to transfer our son to another school  because "I might have a heart attack" with your nephew around.  The Uncle felt embarrassed that his nephew was giving the principal a problem and annoyed that he was asked to tell his younger sister what the principal wanted to happen.  He felt they should do it themselves, and kept to himself the message of the principal.  Regardless,  near the end of the school year we were asked to transfer our son to another school for the sake of their principal. 

What the school  wanted were angelic and perfect students upon whom they wouldn't have to expend behavioral attention. Though he had good grades, better than most in his class, he didn't have an A in the character department. 

He was then in Kindergarten.

The following school year, we transferred our son to another private Catholic school where he became a classmate and a close friend of Jake.  Jake became his friend in their first meeting and made him at ease in his new school.  It was a new journey for my son.

I had a friend who passed by the office in the morning.  We were co-workers in the bank before.  He was already there when I joined it and holding a clerical position four rungs higher than my entry position.  He was a joker and got drunk very easily.  Once the police arrested him for public disturbance.  The next morning he appeared in the local paper showing him behind bars.  He was, however, released without charges.  When he reported for work everyone, including the branch manager, was having a great time making fun of him.  A swell guy, that's what he was.

My visitor friend became a branch managers later in his career in the bank and retired five years after I did.  He was now into insurance selling both life and non-life insurance of an insurance company that is a sister company of the bank we worked in.  We were always friends in the bank but I found it hard to convince him to accept higher positions.  He was happy with where he was until finally he accepted a branch manager position in an our Eastern Samar branch.  He did well there and in less than two years he was back in Cebu as the manager of a new branch in the area.  It was in this branch that he retired.