Ongkingco
A recent survey proudly hailed Filipinos for having a lot of common sense. The headline brought me back to something shared by a friend.
The unknown author writes:
My parents told me about Mr. Common Sense early in my life and told me I would do well to call on him when making decisions. It seems he was always around in my early years but less and less as time passed by until today I read his obituary. Please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance. For Common Sense had served us all so well for so many generations.
Obituary
Common Sense
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in/out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn’t always fair, and “maybe it was my fault.”
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Aspirin, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student; but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I’m a Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.
***
This personification of common sense is shockingly timely for our society. We are witnessing in real time the dire consequences of “his absence” taking the form of a haunting specter in the piling bodies of collateral victims to EJK, drugs, prostitution and corruption.
Thus, I believe it is premature to laud ourselves for having a lot of common sense. If by common sense we mean our make-do and can-do abilities to survive and adjust in situations — both normal or critical — I could still agree.
But for a common sense that is rooted in the deep senses of what is historical, cultural and spiritual, I sadly believe we have none (little, perhaps) of that. Unknowingly, we may have already pawned the remaining common, after having wasted the historical and cultural senses.
Perhaps, for a little, we may still pride ourselves by clinging to something spiritual sense. But having lost the other three senses, it wouldn’t be long before what is spiritual becomes sentimental, superstitious and plain silly.
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