caveat

my dad has no problem talking to strangers.  he's waiting someplace, he'll strike up a conversation with whoever is nearby.  the guy happens to be a driver?  he'd tell him he's a driver, too.

so this afternoon at 5:17 p.m., i met my parents and my sister at french baker skywalk (between ali mall and sm department store) and i see my dad talking to this guy at the adjacent table.

the guy introduced himself as a lawyer from New York and Washington.

he told me, "kasamahan ko ang daddy mo sa army pero hindi kami nag-abot."
->  your dad is my colleague in the army but our stints did not overlap.
(he's so much younger than my dad.)

okay.

so he and my dad were talking and talking and talking and i overhear him saying he's a graduate of the UP College of Law.  he said he studied at UP from high school just like [former president Fidel] Ramos.

i butt in:  'what's your student number?  mine's 8, 1...'

he asks whether i'm from UP.

i say yes.

he asks what course i took.

i reply econ, adding our building's just across law's.

he said he's econ, too.

i again ask for his student number.

he tells me [vice president] leni robredo is econ, too.

he asks whether i'm ecosoc.

i reply ETC (economics towards consciousness).

i again ask for his student number.

he again dodges the question and i blurt out, "you don't have to tell me everything!  just the first 2 digits!  all i told you is mine's 8, 1..."

he says it's also 8.

me, "anong 8?"
->  '8 what?'

he says it's, "8-dot-dot."

ugh!

i must say i was annoyed.  the guy was extracting so much information from my dad (about my dad, about my dad's prominent friend) and he wouldn't even give me the first two digits of his student number!

i try to take a picture of him and my dad.

he stops me.  he doesn't want pictures.

okay.

guess what, later i see him taking a picture of my dad's ID!

i go, 'ba't mo pini-picture-an 'yan?!'
->  why are you taking a picture of that?!

he doesn't answer.

and my dad was just sitting there looking at him while he was taking a pic of his ID!

and then the guy tells me he seems to have seen me in econ.  rgiht after that, he was already sure he used to see me in econ.

and then they said their goodbyes.

so while the guy and my dad were standing, i took pictures of them.  the guy didn't want any and he kept on hiding behind my dad!

i was really annoyed.  social engineering and identity theft crossed my mind.

i told the guy, "you took a picture of my dad's ID but you don't want a picture of yourself?!"

he said it was with my dad's permission.

he approaches me and shows me a whitish, faded ID and, my baaadddd, i was too annoyed to really look and before i knew it he had walked away.  this new york and washington lawyer said he did not have a business card when i asked for one earlier.  now his ID is faded?!

when he and my dad were not anymore around (the lawyer left for i don't know where.  my dad ate his food then left awhile to buy a couple of light bulbs from Ace Hardware.), i asked the French Baker crew whether the guy in the table beside ours earlier frequented the place.  (uhm, we didn't bother bringing up our concerns to my  dad.  from experience, we know he'd just get mad.)

the girl said no.

i requested her to take a picture of us (my mom, my sister and i) showing the adjacent table.  i told her the guy at that table took a picture of my dad's ID but won't allow a picture of himself.

the crew said, 'ay, akala ko magkakilala!'
->  oh, i thought they knew each other.

my mom says the two just met and my dad just struck up a conversation with the stranger.

me:  "pag may nangyaring hindi maganda, witness ka, ha...  nandito sa katabing table 'yung lalaking 'yun...  pinicture-an niya 'yung ID ng tatay ko..."
->  if something unpleasant happens, you're a witness, ok...  that guy was in the adjacent table...  he took a pic of my dad's ID.

it was my dad's Armed Forces of the Philippines Retired Officer ID.  the front showed his address among other data.  (the back pretty much showed everything!)

let this be an announcement therefore, should anyone use a copy of my dad's ID for whatever transaction, that is UNAUTHORIZED.