A CRUEL JOKE’S BRIGHTER SIDE

This article would not have landed in this Website’s infinite pages were it not for a humorous-sounding cruel joke that was sent by a brother through the Web in the vernacular (and translated by this writer in English) as shown below:

THE JOKE

Minsan, umuwi ng maaga si Mister para sorpresahin ang kaniyang kabiyak. Dahan dahan siyang pumasok sa kanilang bahay at hinanap ang kaniyang Misis. Nakita niya itong abala sa pagluluto at di namalayan
na siya ay dumating. (Once, a mister went home early to surprise his beloved. He slowly entered the house and looked for his wife. He saw her busy cooking and did not see him coming.)

Maingat siyang lumapit sabay takip sa mga mata ni Misis sabay sabing "NGES HU!!!!!" (He carefully neared her and simultaneously covered her eyes with his palms saying “NGES HU!!!)

Sabi naman ni Misis, " Lintek, nges- hu-nges- hu ka
pa diyan ikaw lang naman ang ngongo dito!!!!! (And the missus said “Heck, NGES-HU-NGES-HU- there you go again; when you are the only harelip in this house!!)

THE ARTICLE

Lyndon Amparo is a two-year-old boy in our hometown who sports a congenital harelip. His father is a co-worker of Rolando Boysillo whose son, like that of Primo Seroje, was operated on of his inborn defect last April at the Ramiro Community Hospital. Lyndon will then be the third harelip that me and the missus will help as an apostolic work in this rustic and bucolic place called Guindulman town.

We were already apprised of Lyndon’s condition by the town’s first lady before the operation on Boysillo’s son was conducted and therefore were already expecting his parents to come to us for the needed procedural requirements to undergo before the operation could be done. That time, we reckon it would be like shooting two birds with only one stone if the two boys can be taken to the hospital in just one trip. But Lyndon’s parents did not come.

By end of June, Evelyn Amparo, the mother, and with her son in her arms, finally went to our residence asking if we can also help her son. We said we will try. During the conversation, we asked her why they did not approach us sooner considering that they and Rolando Boysillo knew each other. She replied that they wanted first to know if the operation on Boysillo’s son will be successful. Asking them if they saw Boysillo’s son after the operation and if they were satisfied, the mother just nodded. I thought, of course, she is entitled to that!! Finally seeing her son handsome (although the mother shows a slight facial defect, she is obviously good looking) I consider her attitude a natural reaction since traveling to Tagbilaran City would indeed be a hassle if her son’s condition will not improve after the operation as she expects.

And so we contacted Darin Goertzen of the Christian Service International for the needed referral slip and who, in turn, enthusiastically gave the go-signal. Next, the missus called Ramiro Community Hospital so that the operation may be scheduled and was told that the doctor’s calendar of activities show that the job can be done the following week.

The day for the trip to Tagbilaran City came. We eagerly waited at the gate at five in the morning for the couple and the child. Four adults and a young boy arrived on a motorcycle an hour later. The driver who was hired for the trip, the father, a teenage boy who we later learned was the father’s younger brother, and the boy’s grandmother.

Seeing that the mother was not around, the missus asked for her. The grandmother first retorted that she is at home with fever. Pressed on for a more definite answer, she changed her statement and replied that she is at home caring for their second child. The missus then asked if she, the grandmother, will join them and was surprised to hear that her reply was in the negative. The task of caring for the needs of the child while at the hospital will be done by the father and his teenage brother, she said.

While waiting for the van to arrive, the grandmother talked to the missus and while it was not in an outright commanding tone, said that the boy needs special attention, as if insinuating that it will be better if the missus can also pinch in to see that the boy is attended to personally while at the hospital room.

The missus looked at me with discouraging, albeit perplexed gaze. She could not understand why no female relative decided to attend to the needs of the child while at the hospital. And so I patted her back saying: “Go with a smile on your lips, the more that young boy needs your helping hand!!

By one thirty that afternoon, I called the missus via her cellphone and asked if the operation was performed but was told that the harelip repair could not be done. While the boy was admitted to the hospital and dextrose attached to the boy’s arm, on close examination, he was found to have fever and so the doctor decided to postpone the operation for a later time. To the consternation of both the boy’s father and my wife! The doctor and the rest of the medical staff of course assured them that the operation will be done the next time they come around.

At hearing this, the face of the boy’s father brightened. He realized his eldest child’s inborn defect will finally be made a thing of the recent past, meaning that at some future time the phrase “NGES, HU, NGES HU will no longer be heard nor read like the cruel joke written above.

But will the boy’s mother or his grandmother troop to the hospital when the fateful day of the operation finally comes around?!