sampaguita

“no ma’am, i won’t accept your money unless you get my sampaguita.” it was delivered by a frail, small boy.

the vendor just gave me my change for an item i bought. and a little boy, a sampaguita vendor, upon seeing that i have some loose change, took the chance to sell me his last sampaguita strand. i asked how much a strand costs, and then he told me it’s 10 pesos.

feeling the spirit of the Christmas season (it was december when this happened), i took out a 20-peso bill and gave it to him. i told him that he can keep his sampaguita & that i’ll just give him money.

his answer caught me by surprise, “ma’am i’m not begging, i’m selling you my sampaguita.”

i was stunned, my first reaction was surprise… then a wee bit of irritation. i was thinking like, for such a small boy — maybe about 10 or 11, an air of arrogance was already there.

but then… could it be that i also went overboard? he may be a little boy, but he’s already out there in the streets, at night at that, so that he can earn something for a living. so unlike the many street urchins i encounter everyday… i know he’s different.

and i know that his response to me, when i handed him that 20-peso bill, spelled that difference.