yesterday as i was leaving our office building, i overheard someone asking the lobby guard where the CR (washroom) was. the guard told her all the CRs are inside offices. it was past 6 pm already and regular office hours are only up to 5 pm. the guard then directed the visitor to another building. instead of going to the other building, which actually is not that near, the visitor just walked over to the side as if waiting for someone.
i asked the guard whether we didn't have any 'public' restrooms in the building. the guard said no. i thought awhile and realized that of the four buildings in the compound, ours is the only one which did not have an open restroom. the only restrooms we had are those within office areas.
i told the guard the visitor had to relieve her bladder so kindly just allow her to use the restroom at the ground floor. the guard declined telling me the ground floor restroom was in the restricted area. i knew that actually : }
just then, my officemate who was supposed to ride with me arrived. i asked her whether our office area at the second floor was still open. she said she wasn't sure. how about the third floor? she did not know. i therefore asked her to wait awhile and i proceeded to tell the guard i'd just accompany the visitor to the restroom inside the restricted area. the guard did not object : )
i walked over to the visitor and asked whether she'd like me to accompany her to the washroom. the visitor said yes. as we were walking, she told me, 'kami 'yung may dala nu'ng sasakyan [there was a vehicle idling on the driveway], kasama ko si jim...' i went, 'ay, kilala ko si jim. dito siya nag-o-office [at the restricted area].' then she added, 'kapatid ako ni jo.' i go, 'ay, hipag ka ni jim?! kilala ko rin si jo (jim's wife). kasama ko siya dati.' just then i saw jim going out of his office. he waved hi from the end of the hallway. i asked, pointing to the visitor, 'kapatid ni jo?' he replied yes. i said i'd just leave her with him then.
i went out and told the guard i've left the visitor with jim. my officemate and i then went on our way.
thinking back i felt really good about how things turned out. i thought i was being kind to a stranger but she turns out to be closely connected to people i know after all. the probability of this is slim as so many people work at our building and most of them i do not really know. what more, one of the persons she has ties with, i.e., her brother-in-law jim, is someone who've extended me a helping hand a couple of times before. we'd have problems at the office, i'll SOS jim and he readily sends his people to help. well, looks like i unexpectedly returned his good deeds somehow. we do reap what we sow and that is good : )
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