the ferris wheel experience

when i was in Grade 5, i splurged P300+ on ferris wheels instead of paying for my school costume. my teacher didn't find out about it. somehow, she missed my name every time she did the roll call for students with unpaid costumes. i was lucky...but not for long.  at the end of the school year (where i placed 4th miraculously despite my absences), she reported my misconducts (including calling her stupid behind her back) to my mother who had to pay the school costume too. i don't remember my mother scolding me for that.  but i also remember crying while they talked without me. i was mad at my teacher for telling and sad that my mother now knew how bad i behaved...

  

but i'm digressing. the moral of this story is not about my early rebellion. it's about the ferris wheels. 

ferris wheel in Okinawa

when i look back at my elementary days, i don't remember the classes, what i learned or how i did in projects. instead i remember the days when i was in uniform but not in school. i was playing volleyball at the back of the municipal hall building with two friends who were also absent like me. i was 10 years old and i was cursing loudly. that was my idea of rebellion.  

again, i'm digressing. this isn't a post about rebellion. i want to talk about the ferris wheel!

the ferris wheel. 

it was our school foundation day so naturally, there were rides in our school ground. i never rode in a ferris wheel before but when i saw it there, i was just amazed and wanted to try it. since my baon was not enough for a ride (i think it cost about P4 or P6 per ride), i decided to use my costume money. 

i loved riding in ferris wheels! imagine how many rides my P300+ got me! of course being happy alone is not fun so i had to share my happiness to friends and paid for their tickets too! i also used some betting on numbers where i won my first bet with one liter of Coke. i took my prize home. 

my money disappeared fast but the memories last until now. 

i shake my head when i see people being stingy or kuripot. it's not that i'm judging them but i'm sad for them because they don't know the feeling of satisfaction that you get when you share your blessings to someone, especially to those less blessed than you are.  that feeling you cannot buy anywhere.

birds of the same feather flock together. all of my friends are generous but i wonder, do stingy people have friends? are they also stingy like them? 

(if i didn't break the rule, i wouldn't have discovered the gift of giving. so yes, this is also a post about rebellion :))