One time while getting ready to go out, I suddenly felt like an elephant stamped my chest. In previous intances when this happened, either a dear friend suddenly dies or I get a close brush with death.
Fearing the unknown, I blurted out the prayer I learned from Fr. Jerry Orbos: “Lord, grant me a happy death. Don’t let me die without receiving your Holy Eucharist. Don’t let me die before my family is ready for my demise.”
Then I kissed Gio who was still in bed. Kissed and hugged Eia who was doing her Kumon homework.
Drove off hoping that nothing bad will happen.
As soon as I turned left at Zapote Alabang Road, 2 traffic enforcers sandwiched my car. Oh no! What did I do wrong?
While I was narrating this story during the family dinner, Gio was quick to interrupt and asked me if I was wearing my seatbelt. My favorite son knows me well. I couldn’t lie so I told him the truth that I wasn’t wearing it. Then what he told me after that just blew me away. “You pray to God all those things and yet you don’t wear your seatbelt? You want Him to take care of you while you ignore rules and regulations? What’s the point of all those prayers when you don’t take care of yourself?”
Guess what? I now wear seatbelt as soon as I enter the car. A smart kid opened my eyes. His mother raised him well heheheh . . .
But for the record, I was caught for violating the color coding scheme and not for failure to wearing seatbelt. This is probably the reason why I don’t wear seatbelt in Las Piñas. Nobody is apprehended here for not wearing his seatbelt. Cars with the Las Piñas Friendship Route Stickers were previously exempted from Color Coding. But not anymore. And I didn’t know. Fortunately, the other Officer was kind enough to forgive my first violation and let me through. Praise God!
