Movie Moment

Just indulge me this, OK? :)

I had a little pang-sine moment this afternoon…

I was on the elevator with the assistant stage manager of our play, a nice bright-eyed young man named Brian, coming from rehearsals at our director’s apartment unit. It was the first time I met Brian who, it turns out, is a second year Broadcast student at UP.

“Hey!” I said. “That was exactly my course when I was in UP.”

He looked at me quizzically. “You graduated na?”

“Yeah”, I said. “Years ago.”

His puzzlement seemed to deepen. “Why? When did you graduate?”

I couldn’t remember. At least, not instantly. But what I did instantly remember was that I am 35 years old. So I said, “I’m 35”, and let him do the math.

His jaw dropped—I’m not kidding. Quite the theatre guy. “You’re 35?!”

I smiled one of those smiles that I really mean to be a neutral one but I think comes out as kind of uncertain. I never know if a person is going make a fuss about how old I am or…“Yeah…”

“Talaga?” Brian was still reeling when the elevator doors opened and a Caucasian man and two little boys got in. “Nooooo. I can’t believe you’re 35.”

I stepped closer to Brian, tapped his arm lightly and requested, under my breath, that “’Wag mo namang i-announce”, hoping that by saying it in Tagalog, I could limit that awkward conversation to the two of us.

Too late. The Man with the Little Boys bowed his head a little and tried to keep his chuckle to himself. But it was too late for him, too, because I heard him—we were in a small, enclosed space, after all. Plus, I saw his expression in the elevator mirror.

“Did you get that?” I asked the Chuckling Man.

He looked up, saw me in the mirror and nodded, smiling.

“Ok.” What else was I supposed to say, right?

The elevator doors opened on the third floor--perhaps the pool area--and the man ushered his two little boys out. When he stepped out himself, he held the elevator door open with one hand to give this parting shot: “If it’s any consolation, you look 21.” Then he smiled. And the elevator doors slid shut.

Hee-hee ;). Twenty-one…