Journ intern plays my game

A veteran journalist speaking before “new generation’’ journalists in Manila recently said the young journalists today do not know how to use the typewriter.

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May I add one thing? There are many young journalists today who don’t know what a typewriter is. Believe me, there was one journ intern who stunned me with this query: “Sir, what is makinilya?”

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When I said that’s the Bisayan for typewriter, she stunned me again when she said: “I thought, Sir, that makinilya is the Bisayan of Star margarine.” She laughed, saying: “Aylang kasuko, Sir, ha. I’m just trying to play your game.”

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 We celebrated National Bible Week last week. A priest of my acquaintance said parents should encourage their children to read the Bible at home before they think of reading it in motels.

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 It says here that a well-known basketball player is facing charges of bigamy. He might end up in prison but that’s not the ultimate punishment for bigamists. The ultimate punishment for bigamists is, according to someone, having two mothers-in-law.

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“Solons Oppose Renewal of Death Penalty” — Headline. That’s a difficult issue to tackle. An easier matter to work on is the debt penalty on bad debtors.

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One news yesterday said the organizer of a circus show has an unpaid tax obligation. The city treasurer is not clowning around when she says she’s collecting the tax.

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 Even poor wage earners are compelled by law to pay tax on their wages. The only wages that are not taxable by the government are the wages of sin.

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A bit seriously now, a member of a local Catholic women’s group said to me: “We belittle the sanctity of God when we say ‘Oh, my God’ at the drop of a hat or for no valid reason.” She said, “that may be acceptable in cases of extreme need.”

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 I don’t know what “extreme need” is. Maybe like when we hear someone say the victims of the Maguindanao massacre died of diseases, not gunshots? In which case it’s OK to exclaim: “Oh, my God!”

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 I agree with the woman. “Oh, my God” has become a common expression wherein the name of God is spoken or used in vain. I hear it often blurted by women celebrities and swards on tv at the slightest shock.

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