That One Peso Coin

"Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly 73 percent of all accidents involving falling objects."

--Dave Barry--

Many nights ago, I decided to drop by a nearby internet shop to print an important file. Since it has been my habit to just e-mail the file to the shop's address, I need not bring a flash drive. Every now and then, I visit that cafe for printing purposes---school projects, school paper dummy, raw facts from the internet. But because of a one-peso coin, I think it's time for me to stop visiting that internet shop for good.

I approached the counter and told the lady-in-charge that I will retrieve a file from the Yahoo Mail. She gave me a half smile, raised her right brow, and sat on her plastic chair. 

"Unsa'y subject?" (What is the subject of your mail?)

"The Ventriloquist," I replied with a smile.  

I waited and at the same time talked with my companion. We were laughing at a certain nonsense topic and I was scratching my two-peso coins. From where I was standing during that time, the printer was just below my nose. 

After the printer made its grunt, a peculiar, minute clang was heard. There, I realized that I lost grip of my one peso coin and it went diving into the wide opening of the printer. Oops!

With all honesty and conviction, I told the lady-in-charge that my one peso coin fell into their gadget. She gave a short, stern look and continued printing my file. Her loud reaction came after she found out that the print-out has now followed a crooked pattern. No one will accept such kind of printing quality. That means I am in trouble. That means I have to be responsible enough to face the consequences of my action.

But I have one justification. I DID NOT MEAN IT. Nobody wanted that to happen. And no one would drop a coin into the printer for no apparent reason. 

She was murmuring while detaching the wires of the printer. She turned it upside down and hoped for the coin to fall. But it did not. The people inside the internet cafe started to react. I was on a corner, still, yet smiling. (as if nothing happened) I was a little bit embarrassed for what I did but I managed to say sorry. 

After several minutes of standing there and watching her curse, I finally broke my silence and gave the lady my two-peso coin. (I fished another one-peso coin from my purse) Time is running and I have to go home. 

I gave it to her, which she readily accepted, and without any hesitations, she told me with an angry tone, "Miss mangayo ra ko sa imung complete name and number kay just in case mangutana tong among amo ug unsay nahitabo, dili kami muy makasab-an." 

I replied with the widest smile I could possibly exhibit. "Oh sure. Where's your paper and pen? Just text me if you need my help." (lol. ang confident ng lola) 

Grabbing my bag and paper filer, I stormed out of the shop, wearing a poker face.

Lesson learned: This is all gravity's fault. But of course, I have to be more careful next time. ^_^

To the lady-in-charge of that inter cafe: I am so sorry for my recklessness and for smiling too much. That is just my defense mechanism to overcome embarrassments.