Helter Swelter

The record-breaking heat index in Metro Manila, specifically in my home city of Pasay, is all over the news this week. Whoever said that Global Warming is a hoax should be made to stay under the Manila sun at 2 PM.

Every year I helplessly whine about the weather and couldn't stop complaining. I never liked summer in the Philippines, at least not since years ago when the temperature started rising to infernal proportions. I love summer vacation when I was a lot younger though. I remember I’d go out every afternoon and play with the other kids until my mom had to drag me and my younger brother inside the house. As a teen, I'd take the BMX bike feeling totally rad and just circle several blocks under the sun making me more "negra" than I already was. I don’t think my nephews can ever experience that and I feel bad how they’re missing out a lot on the best moments of their childhood.

I say it without exaggeration that I wake in the morning sweating and it gets worse between 10 AM to 4 PM. I avoid lunch outs lately because when I step out of my office building, I feel like I’m standing on a giant induction cooktop. Really, walking under an umbrella is no use when it’s the ground you’re stepping on is what’s actually hot. The sudden shift from cold to hot would often leave me with a throbbing headache and stiff neck, which would then lead to dizzy spells and even loss of appetite. When I get home and crash in bed, it feels like I'm lying in a still-warm ironing board. I would want to turn on the TV and relax, but my bedroom window is facing West. And there—in all its freakin' solar glory—is the sun mocking me as if saying: "You can't lie down in your fat, lazy ass. Not just yet."

Am I being given a preview this early on how it’ll be in hell?

I’m lucky to be inside the office during the warmest hours of the day, taking advantage of the centralized AC in full-blast. But I worry more about the people at home — having an almost octogenarian mom and two hyperactive kids. It’s no help that a friend’s mom died of a heatstroke a couple of years ago and it came without warning. We do have air conditioners installed but they don’t do shitz as I'd feel the increase in our monthly electric bill more than whatever comes out of the AC. Then again, I’d rather pay an exorbitant electrical bill than going bankrupt due to hospital bills if anyone of us ever gets sick.

Weekends, while I still look forward to it, is not as much fun as before because of the heatwave. To cool off I would go to the mall and walk aimlessly for hours. I’d usually bump into familiar faces who would ask me: “Sino’ng kasama mo?” to which I’d answer, “Ako lang. Lakad-lakad lang. Ang init sa bahay!”. I'm sure they're there because of the very same reason.

But staying in the mall can be tiring. And expensive. The commute is already an agony, and when I'm there, I almost always end up impulse buying all sorts of stuff. Last weekend I empty the remaining money in my ATM just because I don’t seem to run out of things to buy. Dang. If the weather isn’t as hot as it is now, I could have just stayed home, do an Avengers marathon, or read this new book I bought during the NBS Warehouse sale (80% off, baby!), munch a big bag of Snacku and a bottle of Sprite, sleep all day — anything! Just not 4K poorer by the end of the weekend.

Yes. I blame the weather for that too just because I can.

PAGASA said this weather can go on until June. Having a grand total of zero when it comes to beach plans this season, only means there's no escape and I'm to feel (and most likely suffer) the summer of 2019.