Social Experiment Done On Me

A couple of days ago, I was approached by a man; medium build, had a mustache and a goatee, about same height as me, probably around early thirties or late twenties. He was wearing cargo shorts, a black shirt, a red bandana on his neck (which he probably used as a face mask), some rings on his fingers I didn't know which ones. He was carrying a sports drink tumbler.

 

Anyway, he approached me while I was waiting for the company shuttle service. He asked if I had Php 20 on me. He needed to buy himself something to eat. So I said, "No." Then he asked again, and again I said, "No." Then he asked for just Php 5. Still, I said, "No." Then he went on asking why we, Filipinos, can't help other Filipinos in need. So I answered very sarcastically, "In these dire times, we tend to think of just ourselves first and not others." Then he approached other people.

 

Then he came back. This time he said that they (he had a crew somewhere) were taking a video on people's reactions to people in need. He even said that if I gave him some money, he will have given me Php 1000. He even showed me his wad of cash. He said that the video will be out on Sunday (12 July). Although he failed to tell their channel or page. So in short, they were doing a social experiment.

 

You see. There is a problem with that social experiment that they did.

 

First. Only one person did the, for a lack of a better term, begging. And I didn't think he need any help. He looked more like he spent all his money on something. Now, he just needs a bit so he could eat or go home. For me he just looked like someone who was irresponsible. Even if I had money to spare, I wouldn't have given him any.

 

Second. Back to the guy who did the begging; his approach was a bit strong. His facial expression was kind of aggressive. He looked like someone who was about to mug someone. His face did not show his hunger as he had claimed. That's because he wasn't. They were just after a bit of content.

 

Third. For it to be called an experiment, there should be another sample; one control and one experimental. Another person should have done the same. But with a difference; maybe he'd look a lot more like he literally has slept on the street for days. I don't know which one would be the control but, there should at least be a basis of comparison.

 

With his approach, I don't think anyone got the Php 1000 reward. If there were, there must be very few of them.

 

So to the guy who approached me, sorry. You really didn't seem like someone who needed help. I don't even regret that I didn't get a Php 1000 reward for being helpful. How am I supposed to watch your video if I don't know where to find it?

 

If any of you plan to do social experiments, make sure to have control samples, or basis of comparison.

Welcome Back to Work, and YouTube

I've been going to the office for the past few weeks now. Although I'm only required to report on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. And the hours are shortened; from the usual 8:00 in the morning until 6;30 in the evening, it's just 8:00 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon. We're provided shuttle services, of course, I can't imagine using the public transport for now.

I haven't been writing much lately. Not the usual reason that I had before. It's because of YouTube. I've been trying my hand in vlogging and video making. You know how it is.

I can't really compare the results with blogging since I no longer have a hit counter. Perhaps I should put one in again. My channel is pretty small. Just a couple of hundred subscribers. Slowly, it's growing. Not in a very fast rate though. But still, a growth. If you want to check it out, you can click here, and please subscribe.

Vidio making has it's challenges. Writing something, for me, is a lot easier. I can write something with just for paragraphs and it's all good. But that doesn't translate well in video. Those four paragraphs would probably be just a couple of minutes long. For a video, I'm going to need gimicks. With more than 60 videos in, I'm probably getting the hang of it.

However, today. I was on a live stream. And the people on that stream told me to continue writing. You know what, they were right. That's why I'm here. Even though I know that my readership is probably as low as heck, this is what I do best. This is the best way I know to express myself. I'm still not giving up on YouTube, don't get me wrong. I'm just going to continue writing.

With that being said, Love and Peace.

We're out of the Enhanced Community Quarantine

Today is the fifth day of being out of the ECQ and we're now on GCQ (General Community Quarantine). But still, it seems like nothing has changed, at least for me.

I still can't go to work since public transportation is in full force; I guess just 30% at the most. Work force is probably back at 70%. Not everybody has a personal vehicle for a commute to work. You can just imagine the imbalance there. The rush of public commuters will violate social or physical distancing. And I'm not taking any risks.

So now, I'm still working from home. However, this working from home is testing my patience. It's not really very comfortable to be sitting on a plastic chair for hours. The heat is just unbearable because there's no air conditioning.. The noise outside the house seems unending. Believe me, not everyone is staying at home.

I wonder when all of this will be over. It's not going to be the same, that's for sure unless a cure is found. Until then, everything will be different.

Covid Easter Sunday

The Holy Week came in and now on its last day without me noticing. There was no usual Pabasa on the usual houses. There were no masses at the local parish. I'm pretty sure no one did the Alay Lakad  to Antipolo on good Friday.

Today is Easter Sunday, and today was supposed to be the last day of the Enhanced Community Quarantine and tomorrow, everything would be back to normal. Unfortunately, as far as the Luzon is concerned, it has been extended until the end of the month and the first of May is Labor Day so "going back to normal" is still a long way off.

I just decided to write blogs again and on my Wattpad account. My account name is FoulJester just in case you want to follow me there. Now that mobile gaming seems to have lived its usefulness, at least I want to take a break from it. I've finished the Japanese drama that I mentioned on my last post. That's what I love about Japanese dramas; they're short but still have good stories to them.

I put up a couple of videos on YouTube during this quarantine but I think blogging is still better. I mean, I how do I make a 10-minute long video from a short blog entry. I'm better off writing.

I guess that's all i have for now. Looking at the stocks, still good for a week or so. I mean the local LGU did just gave out 15 canned goods and I estimate five kilos of rice.

So until the next post. I'll be writing my review on the Japanese drama on my other blog: retinalattachment. Check it out.

Holy Quarantine

I know. The tittle may not be as appropriate but, it is what it is.

It's Thursday night... Wait... It just turned Friday; Good Friday. Most of the neighborhood is up waiting for the distribution of relief goods. So we're up waiting.

Right now, I'm binge watching "Monsters," a Japanese Drama about two detectives. I''m only on my second episode and the whole series is eight episodes long. Hopefully, the relief goods arrive before I finish the whole series.

Usually... Well, at least I used to... Every Good Friday, I would be walking my way to different churches. All that changed after I got myself "Consolidation Pneumonia." I wasn't able to go around walking from church to church on a Good Friday after that. At least not for a long time. I remember I did once more until I got my second round of pneumonia with dengue fever, mind you. After that, I never did my "usual" Good Friday walk ever again.

That's the number one reason that I'm stuck in the house, going out only to withdraw money from my payroll account; being immuno-compromised. Having another round of pneumonia would probably the end of me.

For now, I will continue to binge-watch "Monsters" while I wait for the delivery of relief goods.

I hope everyone stays sane. I say that because there are some that are getting infected with some other kind of fever.

Stay-at-Home-for-Thirty-Days Challenge

It's been two weeks since the "Community Quarantine" started, and that was just for Metro Manila. After two days, it was upgraded to "Enhanced Community Quarantine," (ECQ) this time for the whole of Luzon. Then the whole country was placed unfer "State of Calamity." That has been an eventful two weeks but, not in a good way.

The virus has been spreading like wildfire. It's like something out of a science fiction novel. It reminds me of World War Z; the novel, not the movie. They're very similar.

The last time I was out, as in far out to work was almost two weeks ago on a Monday. That was the second day of the Metro Manila Community Quarantine. It was a disaster. Instead of everyone distancing themselves from one another, people were scrambling to get to any public transport available. This probably prompted the upgrade to "Enhanced."

The first week of the ECQ did not go well. There was a lot of panic buying; both for food and sanitizing products. But it eventually smoothened out. 

We were able to make a few supply runs and we received a couple of relief supplies. Today, we have enough supplies to last two more weeks. Water supply is okay. Same with electricity and Internet. I guess people are keeping themselves occupied with the Internet. It can be seen by the sudden rise of TikTok videos. I swear, I will never get into that craze. 

I didn't hear the news but I think the ECQ has been extended for another month. I hope that with the extension, the spread of the virus would at least slow down.

I just noticed I skipped one whole month.