MEDIUM RARE

There we sat, a group so motley no other word could describe us. A retired banker (VP, no less, of one very big bank); an astrologer; an aunt of a wealthy Cabinet secretary; a civilian lawyer with a heart and two ears for soldiers in need of advice on matters of defense, security, and personal rights; a retired AFP officer, ex-senator and ex-secretary rolled into one; and this fence-sitter.

As the ex-military man put it, the Christmas lunch was “a necessary bonding . . . a conversation transcending time, politics, and circumstance.” In other words, we chatted about nothing serious and everything unimportant. Once in a while, the talk shifted to the few personalities who have managed to stand out of their milieu, but if I was expecting exciting bits and pieces of freshly minted insiders’ rumor and gossip, I was disappointed. Peaceful is boring?

We could not do better than discussing the traffic or the Christmas shopping. Newsworthy topics like SMNI (Quiboloy) and the Socorro (“Senior Agila”) community, each of them bordering on faith and religious belief though not exclusively, were off the table for lack of updates and insights from credible sources.  No one among my companions heard me ask, “Have you noticed, media are not in the habit of criticizing the PBBM government, so different from the way they attacked his father’s presidency, in his time?

There may be some very active and loud naysayers in social media, but for one reason or another those platforms are not considered “mainstream.”

When the newspaper headlines scream El Niño which is still months away, and the six o’clock TV news focuses on a transport strike that did not “cripple” the public, may we then expect a Christmassy feeling to prevail, today and tomorrow, of peace on earth and joy to the world?

That was the sense I got watching the McDonald’s commercial showing the two drag queens, Paolo Ballesteros and Vice Ganda, enjoying their fried chicken in an empty restaurant. Dressed in formal gowns of silver and gold and with minimum dialogue, the two stars tore into the food with their lipsticked lips and long, red nails. Inclusivity! Did the ad suggest that an atmosphere of elegance is possible in a fast-food restaurant? Aspirational!