PRE-DEPARTURE TIME

Dear Auntie Pattie Koh,

We will be leaving for the orient on Saturday 17 February. My wife wants to go to Hongkong first then to Macau. After that, we will go to Manila to visit my parents. Then after 10 days in Manila we will go to Bangkok, from there we will fly to Hongkong then Chicago.

I am using and availing myself all the benefits that is part of being an employee of one of the major airlines in Chicago.

I told my wife to take the vacation now since her company is outsourcing the different department in their company and already laid off 500 people and is still increasing in numbers. So, I told my wife that she has to take the vacation and for us to unwind. We need to go to a warmet place and I want to take the break from the back breaking task of removing the snow at my backyard and my long driveway.

I already gave instructions to my eldest son that he needs to come to the house everynight before he heads for his own apartment to check on the gas and to walk the dog and water my plants.

I gave instructions to the utilities that I will be gone for at least three weeks and so they will have to wait to be paid when i returned back.

I have checked on the payments of the one credit card that I hold and gave payments good for two months and explained to them I will be gone and I don't want to have penalty for late payments of the card.

I have called the police department and told them the days and date I will be gone and asked them to check on my backyard also at night and told them that my son will be coming in and out of the house in the evening to take care of my dog.

The mails will be taken cared of by my mother in law and the garbage, if any, will be done by my son also.

My wife is always complaining of all these actions that I do prior our departure. I was trying to explain to her that there wont be anybody at the house during the day and I will take any house sitter to watch the house and the dog.

Then there is this friend of my wife who called this morning and said he will just send something to his sister in manila -- a small manila envelope he said. The envelope came to day and it is the bigger manila envelope and whatever is inside is so darn heavy, around 10 pounds. I asked him to open it infront of me and I wanted to know what is inside the manila envelope that is very heavy.It is good I asked it opened infront of me and it was a brass plate that is intended for the tombstone of his mother. I told him, I will and refuse to bring that metal plate and he was making me feel guilty and all. He was saying that if in case I needed to send something to my relatives back home when he goes back home, he will be glad to bring it along with him. I told this man that I have never had any intention of sending anything to my relatives back home to anybody. I also told him that nobody will know he is going back home because he always keeps it as a secret. My wife just made a mistake of telling him that we are going back home.

Of course, he is now upset with us and practically I dont' cae. He kept on saying that the tombstone marker is very important and his sisters are all waiting for it. I told him in turn, that that is not my problem anymore and he could just send it via FedEx.

So, Auntie Pattie Koh, I don't know why a lot of our kababayans are like this. Everytime they heard somebody is going back home, they immediately assume that they can just send anything. I really don't like it and then when I cannot give into their demands, I am at fault and the bad guy.

Oh well!!