A Tattered Wood Transforms

Ugly is defined depending on the context where it is found. People can be funny about how they see things. A spoiled brat is cute if the kid lives in a posh mansion, but it's terrible if the kid lives in a squatters' area. I visited a farmer's house made of nipa and sinawali and people say it's a pity. I saw the same house materials in a resort and it's cute. 

I saw a tattered wood in a vacant lot. A guy was getting rid of it in flames, and I thought, what a waste. I asked the guy and he said the wood was too ugly to be re-used for anything, saved a firewood. Then I went to a mall and saw on display the same type of wood--same shape--but this one was polished, and it was selling for thousands of pesos. Shoppers say it's beautiful. 

Then I thought, the same value system is used to weigh a man's worth. Ugly or beautiful is defined depending on who has it. Recently, a powerful and moneyed politician who had ambushed media people and buried some of them alive in his hometown was declared innocent of the charge. According to the judge, he was "beautiful." Also, an influential young guy who mercilessly gunned down an innocent youth because of some petty traffic misunderstanding is being paraded as "beautiful." 

Election campaign time is when ugly is presented as beautiful, and vice versa, and many people believe it because of the money value involved. Yet, everything I see under the sun that man gives value on is nothing but a tattered wood. They may make it ugly or beautiful--nonetheless, in truth, it's just tattered wood. Well, some folk may buy that expensive polished tattered wood from that mall and brag about it to friends--even to me--and I will respect him for that (he's entitled to his opinion), but I will always see it in its original state--it's nothing but tattered wood. 

It's good to appreciate and recognize when a tattered wood transforms. Yet, let's not get too boastful and forget that originally, it was mere tattered wood.