A WEIRD EXPERIENCE WHILE TAKING AN EXAM

Last October 19, 1997, I took the Career Service Professional Exam given by the Civil Service Commission in San Fernando, Pampanga. Kailangan ko kasi ito to fully qualify for the position I was considered in. 

Bago ako kumuha ng exam, ilang araw nang hindi maganda ang pakiramdam ko. Hindi lang masama ang pakiramdam ko, in fact, para bang sinapian ako ng unclean spirit. Para akong tino-torture mentally. Masakit ang tiyan ko and I had fears. 

Despite all these discomforts, however, I continued to take the examination as it had already been scheduled. 

The exam venue was an elementary school. Habang nag-e-exam ako, hindi ako makapag-concentrate. Disorganized talaga ako! Ang gulu-gulo ng isip ko. Nakaka-distract ang sakit ng tiyan ko and I was always thinking of the rest room. If I remember it rightly, nag-excuse pa ako to go to the rest room. 

Tapos, hindi ko maunawaan yung mga questions. There was one (I forgot if it was in English or in Filipino) that ran like this: Si Pedro ay mataas kay Juan. Si Juan ay mataas kay Ganito. Si Ganito ay mataas kay Ganyan… (I forgot the whole question). Nakaubos yata ako ng almost one hour doon lang sa particular question na iyon, hindi ko pa rin na-get ang thought. So, I finally decided to just leave it. Hindi ko kayang sagutin. Mauubos ang oras e! 

Tapos, basta ko na lang narinig na sinabi nung watcher, “Ten more minutes!” E, hindi pa ako nangangalahati. And, believe it or not, wala yata akong sinagutang Math problems dahil parang wala akong capability noong araw na iyon na mag-compute. English lamang at mga general info questions ang sinagutan ko. So, dahil magta-time na (10 minutes na lang daw), nilagyan ko na lang ng shades ang lahat ng boxes for my answers hanggang dulo ng answer sheet. 

Then the bell rang. Sumigaw ang watcher, “Pencils up!” 

Kasa-submit ko lang ng answer sheet ko nang tanungin ako ng katabi ko. 

“Nasagutan mo bang lahat?” aniya. 

“Oo, sinagutan ko hanggang item 120,” sabi ko sa kaniya. 

“Haaa!” namangha niyang nasabi. “E, 1 to 80 lang ang exam a!” 

“Haaa!” sabi ko rin, sabay takbo pabalik sa isa pang watcher kung kangino ko ipinasa ang papel ko. 

“Ma’am, puede pong mahiram ang answer sheet ko. May buburahin lang po ako sandali.” 

Ibinigay naman sa akin. At totoo nga, 1 to 80 lang ang test! Tapos, isinauli ko na sa watcher ang answer sheet ko. 

“Bakit, ano’ng binura mo?” tanong nung watcher. 

“Nalagyan ko po ng shades hanggang 120 e 1 to 80 lang po pala ang test.” 

Tawa nang tawa yung watcher habang tinitingnan ang answer sheet ko. (Although 1 to 80 ang questions, yung provided separate answer sheet ay 1 to 120 items.) 

Of course, dahil hindi naman lahat ng question ay pinag-isipan, hindi ako umaasang naipasa ko iyon. Alam kong most likely ay bagsak ako sa exam. 

After a month, coming from Nueva Ecija and going to Olongapo, dumaan ako ng San Fernando to get the result of my exam. Although I was thinking I might have failed in the exam, I prayed that I was able to pass it. The passing grade was 80%. 

And, thank God, I got 84.34%! 

THE CHINESE FAN AND THE LOTTO

The Chinese Fan 

I began experiencing strange things after graduating from college. That was in the late 90s, just before the approach of the new millennium. 

I was on board a Victory Liner bus bound for Manila. I was seated all alone at the back. A male passenger who was seated three empty seats away and in front of me lifted a tabloid as he read it. The banner headline on the tabloid’s back page read, “ABOT KAMAY ANG GINTO” (gold is within a hand’s reach). 

I seemed to be under a spell. I felt as though I was hypnotized. I was following what the banner headline suggested. 

I looked around and tried to find out whatever it was that was within the reach of my hand. I found a Chinese fan on a vacant seat some five feet away from where I was seated. I picked the fan up and tried to spread its blades wide open. There on one of its inner blades were written five (5) numbers like 17, 24, etc. (I could not remember the three other numbers). And the last character was a symbol—that symbol of infinity that we learned in our Modern Mathematics subject in my freshman year in the high school. 

After reading what was written on that Chinese fan’s inner blade, I lifted my head, looked around, and as the bus reached the junction area in San Fernando, Pampanga, it made a stop right in front of a lotto outlet where a signboard in bold letters read: PLAY LOTTO HERE. 

As I was very nervous then, I threw the Chinese fan outside of the Victory Liner bus’ window. 

A few years had passed after that incident and, one afternoon, as I exited the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Main Gate, I went to the lotto outlet just after the Main Gate Pedestrian Lane. As I approached the betting window to make my bet, I found on the window pane a Chinese fan similar to the one I mentioned above. And I remember that incident. I smiled as I picked up that Chinese fan that was probably inadvertently left by a female bettor. That Chinese fan is still in my possession up to this date. 

No, I did not win in that draw.