Who's Who?

My sister and her best friend came over with her ball gown because she needed some accessories to go with her masquerade look for her graduation ball. Not knowing how her gown looks, I personally got tired of the demure pieces so I prepared an upbeat selection to match her outfit.

She put on her gown and a mock-up of her hairdo as I helped her try on the pieces. Mom and I agreed on a statement piece while the brother took on the demure little pieces just to be safe. Now, it was time for sis to decide.

A pause for silence that wasn't intended for The Three O'clock Prayer came about. Decision time.

I looked back since the time of her high school graduation. Who decided that she should take up Nursing? And now, forty-eight months later, four eyes were upon her waiting for her decision on which accessory to match her ball gown.

The brother must have influenced the moon that day as she took off with the demure pieces. Mom proclaimed that all boyfriends must pass under the scrutiny of the brother. Well, I know she's old enough to come out of her shell and start making decisions as a grown up lady. The following day, sis flashed her freshly manicured nails as she came back to get the bolder piece. I chuckled. So who is she going to be this graduation ball? Demure or Daring?

In 1934, H. Pettus Randal, Jr. was an undergraduate student at the University of Alabama. He was an outstanding student in every area of his campus endeavor as he was tapped into various campus honor societies. Coming from a poor farming community during the Depression era, he was unable to accept these honors because of his financial drawback.

He then created a distinguished biographical volume, Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, to honor outstanding students of higher learning without required membership dues or initiation fees. For several years, he and his wife struggled for this new concept to gain acceptance in university recognition programs as they were the only staff collating material for the annual publication.

Demurely tucked behind a nude photograph in my bookshelf is my personal print of the 60th edition of Who's Who. I find it useful as part of a bookend. I've never quite understood the need to belong to honor societies. I won't probably need a degree to run for Congress anyway.

Since Dr. Frasier topped the board exams, I had one of those hair-brained ideas that went like this:

Hey, why don't you gather all the board topnotchers and form a Topnotch Club? What for? Well, for one, you guys can pet each other's egos and offer each other priority services in your respective fields. It won't work because you have to pay topnotch price and most topnotchers cannot afford even to renew their professional licenses. Well, maybe one benefit being a topnotcher is you never have to pay PRC license dues for the rest of your life. Maayo unta! Di man gani ta hapit pasudlon kay wala'y medyas. It is nice to be recognized for one's achievements in life. Some people wear their medals and bring their trophies everyday while others display it on the shelf or tuck it somewhere less visible and get on with there lives. It immortalizes us humans even after we're gone.

There are those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who say, "What happened?"

So, kinsa man ka?