Great Kids
I.Am. Exhausted. First day of the Committee on Justice deliberations on the impeachment complaint against Mistress of Misery and Queen of the Damned Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo here in Congress. Everyone (the staff of the progressive party-lists) has been running around like a bunch of headless chickens. The PPLs…tried… to launch "Bantay Impeachment" and it was, to my estimation, a middling success (it was chaos, pure and unadulterated chaos, and the activity was decided upon only YESTERDAY),but a success all the same. The food was served (Impeachpie and impeachie-pichie), the tarp arrived a tad late but at least it got there, and the media clicked and shot footage of our lawmakers eating the said impeachie foods.
Oh well. Enough of that.
Actually this piece is about my kids — my staff in Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran’s office. They’re barely adults, what with them just a few weeks older than 22. There’s Tin (my dependable lieutenant, Number One as nautical linggo goes and like Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of the USStarship Enterprise calls Lt.Com. William Riker), Lyn (looney songbird who frequents urban poor communities and does everything to stop demolitions short of flinging herself in front of bulldozers), and Ken (he’s new here, but it’s like he’s been here forever. He has a weird sense of humor and that makes him feel rights at home in this nuthouse of an office).
The other staff are Ka Ofel, Ka Bucks and the ever-reliable security peeps and the folks doing project work. But I’ll focus on the legis staff, which is what Tin, Lyn and Ken are.
They’re so energetic it’s like they’re living advertisements for the Energizer company. They laugh and giggle and trade crazy stories while they work, and it’s unbelievable that they actually get the work done and quite well at that. Come mealtimes, they raid each other’s plates. They write like fiends (I think they’re all OC when it comes to their writing. Lyn one time wrote a briefing paper on the infamous Department of Housing bill, and the briefer was longer than the bill. Well maybe not really longer, but it was a regular thesis/dissertation on the urban housing situation in th Philippines.), and after a long and exhausting day attending committee hearings (trailing after Ka Bel, making notes and occasional doodles on their notepads), answering phonecalls, emails, requests for assistance from members of the sectors that fall under our office’s jurisdiction), they’re still hyperactive come nighttime.
They attend every rally like it’s their first, and they’re chatter like magpies even as they march down the streets of Ayala carrying streamers.
Last night Ken didn’t sleep till 2am because he put stickers on 100 pieces of candy for the photo-op this morning. Still, he was the first to arrive at the office - chipper and cracking (stupid but hilarious) jokes.
Tin is a rock. She is seldom fazed.When I’m panicking, I turn to her and she tries to calm me down and she goes on ahead and tries to fix whatever needs fixing even as I hyperventilate and want to fall in a dead faint. Like this morning when the tarp for Bantay Impeachment was still finished at the shop, she kept calming me down and assuring me that it will get here on time. It didn’t, but thanks to her I didn’t fall to pieces.
These kids are great. (Sorry if this sounds feudal or condescending. But with me this is actually a term of endearment) These kids are amazing. Really, they are. I am so honored to be working with them. They’re so…genuinely activist. They have strong initiative, they’re creative, they’re happy people, and they love their work. When I’m out of the office I hardly worry knowing that Tin can take over at a moment’s notice.
I wish I had money to treat them all to Yellow Cab.
Bwahahahar, this is great for me because I’m thinking of going on leave in October.hahahaha!
