No Smoking Please

Before you read through, let me issue a warning that what you will read is my opinion of smoking and of the smokers that I’ve been with and have seen.

I grew up asthmatic. Every year when I was young, I'd be absent from school for a week twice a year because of the change in seasons, which would in turn cause allergic reactions with my lungs. Due to the weakness in my lungs, I was asked to stay away from dust, pollen and smoke. It’s my Achilles Heel, the one area I try to keep strong because when that gives in, I'd be down and out for such a long time.

Everyday, as I go to and leave work, I pass through groups of smokers outside our building. Before passing through, I’d take a deep breath to avoid inhaling the air in the vicinity. To some people, this might seem like an over reaction. To me, I’m just trying to minimize the amount of smoke that gets into my lungs.

Before, I would periodically pass through Emerald Avenue in the Ortigas Central Business District to pay for a bill in one of the banks along the road. The sidewalks on that road are usually filled with people taking their break, smoking. As I walk through, I usually have no choice but to inhale the smoke-filled air. Even on a windy day you can smell the smoke in the air.

There is something about many of the smokers I see. Many of them don’t seem to understand how seriously people need clean air so they let the smoke drift to an area where people may breathe it. Many don’t seem to care enough to keep their smoke away, even from babies and the older folk. Many of them just throw their cigarette butts on the ground as if they were organic and biodegradable.

This is why I appreciate organizations that make their areas smoke-free areas to promote clean air. I also appreciate organizations that designate areas for smokers that are well away from the non-smokers. I appreciate those smokers who move away when they know there are non-smokers around. And I fully support government efforts to ban cigarette ads and increase sin taxes on cigarettes.

To all the smokers that took the time to read through this, I hope you understand where I’m coming from. Peace!

Parent-Teacher Conference

I went to my first parent-teacher conference today. I got to his school early in the morning so that my wife and I could line up early and finish early as well. I wasn't really worried about what the teacher would say because I knew my son is such a good and smart boy.

The school implemented a priority number system so all we had to do was pick a number and wait in line. We first went to his class adviser, picked a number and sat down. After a few minutes, my wife and I decided to talk to his Chinese teacher first because there were some parents already in line for his adviser.

Our son's Chinese teacher is a young Filipino-Chinese, who could speak fluent Chinese and English. I thought this was good since I knew some Chinese teachers were mainland Chinese who spoke just some English. We didn't have to wait long to talk to her. We just expressed to her that we were concerned that we didn't know Chinese and that we couldn't tell if he was pronouncing the words correctly. We asked if she would recommend a tutor. The teacher told us not to worry since our son was one of her most attentive students in class. Feeling somewhat relieved, we decided to talk about our son and how he likes Chinese. We mentioned that he would offer to pray or sing in Chinese and that from time to time, he would teach us Chinese words. I could see that she was happy to hear that. We left her feeling good that we didn't have to worry. We kept repeating what she had said: He was one of her most attentive students in class.

When we got back to his adviser, we saw that the line had hardly moved so we decided to have breakfast. After a hotdog and an order of siomai, I asked my wife if she planned to discuss anything with our son's adviser. She just mentioned our son's complaints about a classmate who was often rough with him.

We got back in line and after around half an hour, it was finally our turn.

Our son's adviser said our son is a model student. He is always so well-behaved and he recites frequently. She explained that she would ask the class to behave like our son, making our son quite well-known in class. We were also told that he is a bit slow in writing and coloring exercises and so we 'll need to support him there. Then we brought up the complaint of our son about his rough classmate. The adviser laughed and said that while it's true that the other boy can be quite rough, that boy actually declared that our son was his best friend, hence all the attention he showers onto our son.

When I think about this whole experience, I can't help but smile. My son is a good boy. Of course I already know that, but it's nice to know that other people think so too. I also realized that my son has this whole world now that I am not a part of. My son is experiencing the world on his own and he is coping quite well. He is forging his own friendships, facing his own challenges and learning new things from other people.

I better get used to this, I guess because that world will get bigger and bigger as he grows up.