IGME Files

We’re over the American Idol and it was a great season. I am an Elliot Yamin (for Ryan Seacrest, it’s “Ya-meeen”) fan. Early on, I was rooting for the eventual Top Three and between the last showdown of talent, I was for the salt-and-pepper Alabaman crooner, go “soul patrol, soul patrol!!”

This is beside the point, everyone’s talking about AI and I won’t talk about that anymore. I have my own personal “Idol”, and quite an ironic of sorts, he’s an 8-10 year old boy, a stranger!

Yesterday, May 29, I was waiting for an MRT ride in Quezon Ave when all of a sudden, a boy caught my attention. He was the only one standing in the middle of a large space between the yellow-marked boxes for easier access to the door. When everyone’s scrambling to get to the door, this boy turned his face to the other side looking to where the train’s direction would lead the passengers. And then a few feet away, I saw the right side of his gently framed body. His lower right arm is amputated, and his right leg is amputated down to the knee as well. What’s more interesting was, he has to “kneel” his “normal” left leg just to balance himself. You got the drift?

Now, you may think he’s to be pitied, but I saw the most dignified spirit in the face of a real God-knows-what-really-happened-traumatic experience. I also saw an incredible mixture of innocence and inner strength; he was unmindful of the staring eyes, and literally put up a brave front (his companion that looks like his father was at the sideline, resting his arm and reading today’s papers, looking tense at the on-lookers).

This boy utterly showed no shame, not a glimpse of prejudiced self.

If ever the going gets tougher for me in dealing with life’s battles, I’d just recall his spirit of greatness and goodness, calling my life. He’s My Idol. And probably Yours, too.