The Story Teller

Adapt vs. Adopt

Adapt means to adjust to

Example: When you work abroad, you have to adapt to the climate.

Adopt means to take as one’s own

Example: Call center agents with clients in America adopt the American accent.

I do not consider myself a zealot or something, but when it was time to enroll my eldest daughter to college, I decided to send her to the same school I went to and graduated from. For one, I am a product of that school, so I am confident about how she will turn out, and I guess I made the right decision. My daughter is doing fine there and I guess she is happy with her school, her choice of course and her new friends.

Moreover, the school has changed a lot since my time. The classrooms are air conditioned, the transactions are done online and I wouldn’t be surprised if they would have conferencing services in the future. Doesn’t that sound very nice?

Sarah and Mina are best friends since they were young. Though they don’t always agree on things, they are always able to reconcile their differences and work things out. They have different tastes on clothes, on books, on sports, on food and even on men. Obviously, what holds them together is their faith and love to each other.

One time, they talked about meeting at the mall on weekend to watch a movie. They simply agreed on the movie they were going to watch and the time they will watch it. The week went by and as they were both busy, they didn’t talk about it anymore. The weekend came and Sarah texted Mina about their plan to watch a movie. She got no reply. She dialed her friend’s number but it was out of reach. She looked at the clock, it was only two hours before their agreed time. Sarah couldn’t decide whether to go or not. But what if Mina goes? She doesn’t want to keep her friend waiting.

Reluctantly, Sarah got ready to leave. She called Mina’s number again but it was still out of reach. What if Mina forgot about their plans and is still sleeping with her cell phone off. She would look dumb waiting for someone who wouldn’t come. But Mina has never cancelled a date nor has she stood up anyone. Sarah left and went straight to the movie house.

There were so many people at the mall. Sarah couldn’t find Mina anywhere. She felt so stupid standing by the cinema entrance and looking everywhere for her friend. She felt so dumb for thinking that Mina would show up. Sarah was hurt. What kind of friend would be so inconsiderate. Sarah took a deep breath of regret. She shouldn’t have come.

Sarah was about to leave when she heard Mina’s voice..

“Hey, where are you going?” she asked.

“You’re here..”

“Of course, I’m here, we talked about it, right?”

“But why didn’t you text me?”

“Oh.. My cell phone was snatched last night”

“Oh, sorry about that.. What are those?” Sarah pointed at the plastic bag Mina was carrying.

“Snacks. I came here early. So, while I was waiting for you, I bought our tickets and got us some snacks from the supermarket. I got your favorite chips and iced tea..” answered Mina with a satisfied grin.

“Thank you..” Sarah felt ashamed of herself for thinking badly about her friend.

“Come on. Let’s go now so we can have the best seats..”

They went inside the movie house. When the movie was about to start, Sarah asked Mina..

“Didn’t you even think I might not show up?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I couldn’t bear to think that you would let me wait for no one..”

“But what if I didn’t show up? What would you think of me?”

“I would think that something bad had befallen you and that you might need my help…”

Sarah’s tears welled up and she embraced Mina, the best friend any one could ever have..

(Original story by the blog author. Any similarities with other stories, fiction or otherwise, are purely incidental.)

Seat vs Sit

Seat is a noun which means something to sit on

Example: You may take your seat.

Sit is a verb which means to rest with the body supported by the buttocks; to be seated

Example: Please, sit down.

Lose vs Loss

Lose is verb which means to misplace.

Example: Michael and Marlon always lose their marbles.

Loss is a noun which means something that was lost.

Example: It was his loss, not mine.

In line with my plans to offer Reading Tutorial at home, one of the things I’ve been thinking of is whether to include a washroom for the kids. But considering that they will only be here for one and a half hours, do I really need to? Besides, I already have a washroom adjacent to the kitchen, so I guess I can have them use that.

Maybe it’s a good idea to replace my current kitchen sink to double bowl undermount sink with the smaller bowl for the children to wash their hands in. Oh well, I know I’m getting too excited about this, but yes, I’m very excited about all this.

Late last year, I started including Correct Usage as a regular feature in this blog. That’s in addition to my stories which I post every Sunday. I just thought that other bloggers might learn a thing or two from my posts to improve their writing. At first, I thought other bloggers may find it so arrogant of me to think that I could teach them something, but then again, this is my blog and I could write anything I want as long as I don’t hurt anybody’s feelings, which,sadly, I already did.

So, I’m thinking whether to continue or not to continue posting Correct Usage. Personally, I want to continue posting them. If no one wants to read them, the least they can do is to scroll down and read on, right?

As I mentioned in my other blogs, I am planning to offer READING  tutorial in my house. Well, it doesn’t have to be a big one, a table and a few chairs will do. But of course, I would need a nice storage cabinet to put my teaching materials, my worksheets, crayons, pencils, flash cards and so on. Since my place is just a small one, I guess one will do.

If I will push through with my plans, I know I will be needing more than I have right now, but I guess I have to be patient. If I want to start now, I will start small. But if I don’t start now, I’m not sure if I will ever start at all.

I did it!

I mailed five of my short stories to the publication today. Honestly, I’m not very optimistic about it, I just feel happy and proud that I was able to overcome my fear. And though I’m not expecting much that my stories will be accepted and published, I guess it’s not very wrong to hope that somehow they will be. In case you’re interested to know which stories I submitted, they are:

The Miraculous Spring

The Greatest Amulet

The Laborers

The Millionaire

The Road to Immortality

I really wish they get published, if not, I think I’ll just read them over and over again here in my blog

My cousin is getting married next month. Though I’m not sure I will be on the wedding because it is somewhere in the south and far from where I live, I feel just as excited as they are because my mother is coming for the wedding. Yes, it sounds like a grand wedding and why not, the couple are both nurses in Canada and are coming home just for this, so, I can’t expect something less. Hopefully, after several months, they will have their first baby. Well, we’ll be passing dutchmaster around if it’s a boy. I can imagine how happy my uncle would be to have his own grandson. Wow! There is so much to look forward to..

A poor gardener was employed by a nice rich man to tend to his garden. Theirs was a professional relationship based on respect and trust, the gardener’s respect to the rich man who employed him and the rich man’s trust to the gardener who tends to his garden as if it is his own.

One day while the gardener was pulling weeds in the garden, a group of children passed by and watched him while he worked. The gardener, flattered with the attention he was getting, started to show them not only how to pull the weeds but also how to trim the grass. When he was done, he thought of something more to demonstrate. He then remembered the rake the rich man kept in the barn. He took it and showed the children how to gather dried leaves and other dirt. The children enjoyed his demonstration, thanked him and told him they would be back again to watch him work.The gardener was glad.

After a week, the rich man learned about what the gardener did. He got extremely mad. He accused the gardener of trespassing because of using his tool without asking permission. He accused him of calling attention to himself at the rich man’s expense and vowed to make the gardener pay for disrespecting him. The gardener was sincerely confused. For one, he couldn’t think of any thing he did to disrespect his employer. He just used the rake to show the children how to use it properly. But this enraged the rich man even more.

The following week, when the same children got back to watch the gardener work, the rich man went out and spoke about the gardener’s misdeeds. He ranted on how his property was violated. He talked about all of his accomplishments that made him worthy of respect, that a certain gardener, no matter how good his intentions are, has NO RIGHT to use his property without asking his permission first. He went on and on about the good things he did to other people and how he lived in luxury and that he deserves treatment that befits a person of his station. He enumerated the number of properties he acquired and the places he had gone to. He may not have directly said it, but he was probably mapping out the difference between a distinguished person like himself and a poor obscure gardener.

He was too intent in what he was saying that he failed to notice that the children, who only wanted to watch the gardener work, were not paying attention and neither was the incriminated gardener who felt remorseful when he finally realized his mistake. After the rich man’s speech, the gardener gloomily walked forward and in a soft but clear voice said:

“I apologize to the rich man for using his rake without asking his permission. I should not have done it to him or to anyone. It was wrong of me to assume that just because I am allowed to use the tool to do my work, I can also use it to flaunt my skill. I am really sorry, Sir. I promise that I would not do it ever again..”

The children, who felt insignificant and belittled after the rich man’s litany about his accolades felt sympathy to the gardener that one called out on him..

“We do believe you didn’t mean any harm at all, Mr. Gardener…”

Then, one by one, they patted  the gardener at the back and without even looking at the rich man, turned around and went away.

If the rich man looked down on his gardener and thought he was a better person because he was distinguished and accomplished, then, he probably looked down on each and every one of them as well..

Moreover, regardless of his station in life, a person, as well as his properties, must be respected ALWAYS.