This morning while undergoing my yearly heart tests (ECG
and 2D-Echo) inside an air-conditioned and peaceful cubicle of the cardio-vascular
diagnostic center of a prominent hospital in Las Pinas City, my restful concentration
was disturbed by a man angrily shouting at the staff of the center stationed at
the reception area.
His angry voice reverberated all over the dignified corridors
and penetrated the serene cubicles of the pristine center, causing serious concern,
if not panic, on the part of other heart patients, like me, who could not take
a peek at the commotion from their cubicles because all kinds of cardio-vascular
electro-magnetic gadgets and wirings were attached to and immobilized their hands,
arms, feet, and chests.
I later learned from the two lady staff who were
administering my ECG and 2D-Echo heart tests that the man had previously undergone
an open-heart bypass operation at the hospital; that he was at the center for
follow-up tests; and that there was an honest and inadvertent miscommunication with
the staff on the exact date and time of his appointment.
After completing my heart test, I prepared to leave my cubicle
and proceeded to the reception area, where the angry voice emanated, to observe
the scene of the commotion.
There he was, with his supporting wife. His hair was dyed
black. At mid-60s and having undergone an open-heart surgery, he surprisingly looked
fresh, young and active for his age.
His angry and loud tirades continued, as I walked past
him, his silent wife and the humble staff of the center.
The humiliated staff had no choice but to simply keep
quiet and listen to him angrily and publicly berating and insulting them for
fear that any counter-arguments from them might aggravate his precarious heart
condition.
As I left the center, perhaps at 10 meters away from the embarrassing
scene, I could still hear him boisterously and egotistically threatening the
staff: “I am a lawyer! I will sue this hospital! You will all lose your jobs!”
To say that he was suicidal in his hate was a gross understatement.
As I walked away, I was in deep thought.
That experience gave me an opportunity to refresh in my
mind what has been selflessly and wisely taught by enlightened men and women
for the past 2,500 years, that is, that unless one liberates himself from
greed, hate and ignorance, his impure mind will continue to generate the
negativities and impurities that will chain him to an endless cycle of perdition
and suffering.
I pray for that man, a brother lawyer in the Bar.
The Bar and the Bench are noble institutions reserved for
men and women of wisdom, intelligence and exemplary moral character.
With humility and submission, may he find inner peace.
May he be liberated from suffering.
Atty. Manuel J. Laserna Jr.
November 12, 2014
Las Pinas City
