Robbing the Easter egg bunny

“I got robbed!” said the Easter Bunny.

For six years running, my wife Karen has faithfully planned, organized and hosted the “Beltran Easter egg hunt”. We started out with 10 families half of whom were “Expats” or foreigners away from “family traditions while the other half were Filipino families also looking for a place and something to do during Lent. The number of families has since grown to about 30 or roughly about 120 children and adults.

All participants follow very simple requirements; you must bring 10 plastic eggs filled with candy, tiny toys or coins for each child you bring to the hunt. This guarantees each kid gets his or her fair share. Then bring food enough to cover the number of people in your group.

What started out as a hot dog and spaghetti affair has evolved into quite a “Pot luck” fit for a king.

In essence the “hunt” is meant to give fun and joy for the kids, establish a regular tradition for families to have an out of town event, and to lure friends out of Metro Manila.  But believe it or not, no matter how noble and pro-family the “hunt” may be, every year the Easter Bunny gets robbed!

On the first year we did not have rules since most of the children were toddlers or kids too young to count or understand rules. We did not count on the criminal minds of overly competitive Yayas who wanted to make sure their wards went home with a bag of loot! The succeeding years were “marred” by kids who over harvested Easter eggs and defended their oversight by claiming they did not know how to count! I wonder if they will eventually earn the title “Commissioner”!

Last year’s controversy revolved on illegal assists or unauthorized coaching by parents or Yayas who went ahead for the kids like “scouts” or “poachers”. Just remember, what we do for them now, teaches them what to be in life!

This year’s “criminality” certainly took the cake! A fox or a bunch of foxes dressed as kids decided they were not going to gather 10 eggs a piece. They simply opened the “Easter eggs”, took the contents, closed the eggs and left the ransacked remains for the poor innocents!

The Easter bunny was certainly disturbed by the evolution and sophistication of this year’s scam. Just like the Senate we will have to pass new “laws” for next years Easter egg hunt to stop this growing sophistication in robbing the Easter Bunny!

I share this story with readers because it illustrates and explains the evolution of “wrongs” in our society.  Simple “games” lacking rules, limits and not enough people to monitor what goes on will always create confusion. People not just children will always fill their needs and their desires. Many of us are over weight or out of shape because we didn’t really learn the concept of “ENOUGH” or “Self discipline” as well as we should have.

As loving parents we protect our children’s interests with what we call “acts of love”. We coach them when we are not suppose to, we feed them stuff that’s not good for them, we teach them tricks that has more to do with cheating or taking advantage. What may seem cute or loving now could be damaging later in life.

People often talk about the need to be realistic or competitive in the real world. Unfortunately our problem lies in the compromised state of mind. We want to be “good” yet we have no problems being “bad” because it’s needed or justifiable in order to be competitive in the real world. Being competitive in truth has to do with everything you do before the actual “contest” or “competition”. It’s your physical and mental preparation. Being competitive is based on being fair and on equal ground yet focused on winning. Not having an advantage, not cheating.

In the larger scale, we certainly need to review our “institutions. If many of our national “leaders” have become criminal or corrupted in spite of going through so many institutions of moral training such as the family, the schools, the churches and government, then there is serious cause for concern. We are not merely stealing from the Easter bunny we are also stealing our children’s moral future.

The last ‘rice’ supper

From the way Agriculture Secretary Art Yap and the Broadcast media has “hyped up” the idea of rice conservation in fast foods one easily gets the impression that were about to experience our last rice supper during the Holy Week! I guess this is what happens when little else is happening in terms of news.

For those of us who have holed up in the province, it is quite unclear and unofficial if we have an impending rice shortage or if we are in the middle of a rice shortage?! Depending on who’s reporting the news and who’s being interviewed, the public ends up with confusing information which in general causes panic & fear.

Considering the primary importance of rice in our daily lives, any news or announcement about the status of rice supplies should be handled with great care and formality. Not just in how information is given out but to what purpose is being served. Just because rice is the common man’s primary food does not make it ordinary. If inaccurate reporting can cause Bank runs or a stock market slide, we should treat reports on rice stocks with as much gravity and guardedness.

As for the supply situation, you have to wonder what sort of people are in charge of our stocks. Suddenly we hear about potential shortage because of three typhoons and our ASEAN neighbors consuming more of their rice produce than they are exporting.

Sorry Secretary Yap but unless a war or regional catastrophe has occurred, no excuse is good enough. Good management and wisdom dictates that such things should not be a problem. We either, plant more, stock more, import more or whatever it is you and the NFA’s suppose to do. Don’t talk about the problem…solve it. And while you’re at it, you should fire the guy who was sleeping on the job!