Palengkera...

Repertory’s recent staging of “Gaybirds”, the Filipino adaptation of “Birdcage”, is funny but not that hilarious, except for the scene-stealing “kamfanfangan” houseboy, which is usually the best comic part in the original play as well as in the movie, which was played by Hank Azaria. The setting of the Filipino adaptation was in the ‘70s, which I cannot dig, since the ‘90s has more colorful gayspeak/slang and at least, the younger market can comprehend. The gist, for those who haven’t seen this play, is about a couple of gay impersonators who has to set up a normal front since the son of one the partners will be getting married. All hell break loose when the bride’s family meet up with the “straight-acting and normal” impersonators at their home. It just happens that the impersonators have a “musical revue showplace” next to their house and is connected by a door leading to the showplace’s stage. As stated by the homosexual father confronting the son, why one has to put up a normal front to others when its his house, and he is the master, and the others are his guests. That is actually the question that bugs most of us, why do we have to put our best foot forward whether in entertaining guests, when going out on first dates, when impressing others. A friend of mine once told me that she was going to visit me in the condo with her date, and she told me to act normal and be civil, not too loud. That got my ire to the point that I almost wanted to kill my friend. Who is the visitor? Who is the host? Am I supposed to change my actions inside my own turf? I don’t think so, the guests should be the one that adapt to my rules, not the other way around. Why are we too conscious about what other people think of us? Recently, I have discovered the joys of doing eBay, I have been selling stuff and so far, so good. I have disposed most of my precious junk, or so called beloved collection. I have to remind winning bidders to always leave comments/ratings in my site. In the span of 2 weeks, I have already earned 11 positive ratings, and my star in eBay looks rosy. I am hoping I don’t get any negative ratings/comments, I patiently answer queries as graceful and prompt as possible, ranging from the inane to absurd. One prospective buyer was asking for the exact measurements of armholes, sleeves, and length of the dress, as if it was a custom made item. Hello? The item’s description states that it was available in medium and large, so one should just know if they fit in a medium or small, as if they don’t have any dresses in their closet. My first ever customer, Donna Empic from Singapore, won a Miu Miu satchel and she was a pleasure to deal with, and the succeeding ones that bought from my site as well, with the exception of those who asked for the items to be personally delivered without even giving tips in lieu of shipping charges.handling cost. Now I am more conscious about leaving tips for waiters, to think I am guilty of not leaving tips before. What goes around really comes around. Anyway, I hope my readers could get the chance to visit my www.eBay.ph site, please look for luxereseller or type Jack Spade in the search box. I may not be conscious about what others think of me for I have grown up with a “I don’t give a damn” attitude, but not, beggars can’t not be choosers, and I have to swallow my pride and be a little nice, because what others say counts a lot, especially if you are in a marketplace such as eBay, I don’ want to be called “fishwife” , I guess that’s the translation of the vernacular “palengkera”, even if I am in the palengke, internet-style.