A Matter of Theatrics

An old man clinging on his walking stick asked for alms. His face was purposely disfigured, and instead of asking properly, he was showing his rolled tongue. I reached for my pocket and unfortunately found a 25centavo coin to spare. I gave the coin and before I can go further I heard a loud sarcastic "THANK YOU!". I smiled knowing that he was able to speak after all. I was in a hurry so I never looked back.

On my way back home, I was able to pass the old man. Instead of his usual pitiful feature he was sitting on the street puffing a cigarette with his back straight as if enjoying the jeepney scenery.
It was role playing, which reminds me of a scene in the french movie Amelie: Amelie was about to give a coin to a subway beggar when the latter refused to accept it and said that he wasn't working on a Saturday.

Begging for alms is a way of living. Like our usual day-to-day job, we wear hats and masks to play the role/position given to us. We play the boss, the employee, the co-worker, the doctor, the engineer; yet still we are all very much the same. We longed for that break from our theatrics.

The old man stood up after the cigarette break. He arched his shoulder and started to limp with the support of the stick, he showed his rolled tongue once more. I waited and gave him an extra credit for the effort.