Ironic

The Olympic Games is supposed to unite all races, but it was twice canceled due to world war that divided humanity. The Tokyo edition is the first to be postponed, for a year due to pandemic. But as countdown begins, it hangs in the balance as corona cases surge in Japan. Other countries, especially ours, partly attribute their rising numbers to disregard of health safety protocols. But Japan is peopled with the most disciplined beings on earth.

Imagine who could have we been as a people had the Japanese colonized us instead of the Spaniards for 333 years. But I don’t wish to rewrite history to choose one colonizer over another, no one should have invaded our land and dictated us what to do. Imagine more had we been left alone.

For other countries, it is mass gatherings that brought them suffering. India is dying. Its health care system is overwhelmed by its exponential infection rate. The death toll keeps their crematorium flame burning, blamed in part to massive religious gathering. Belief in a supreme being precedes scientific evidence. Faith bubbles devotees in, until reality pierces in. Despite risks, the faithful gather for the one they believe in, even if it is supposed to be omnipresent.

We so envied Israel for its fast and efficient vaccination against corona until a tragic stampede crushed at least 44 people to death and injured many others. It happened at a religious gathering, believed to shield against many things, if not everything. Those who perished may have been inoculated against the crowned virus, only to die for another cause.

Prepared for one thing, but not seeing another coming. Win some, lose some, sometimes contrary to plan. American sprinter Gail Devers almost had her feet amputated due to a rare autoimmune system disorder. But she recovered and won Olympic gold in Barcelona by a hundredth of a second in the century dash. Not her favorite event, she specialized in the 100m hurdles. But while leading for a rare double, she tipped the last hurdle and bombed out of the medal race. She lost what she expected to win but won what she did not.

We normally find wisdom from great thinkers. But we found one in Forrest Gump, the kindhearted man bullied for his physical disability and marginal intelligence, until he said it simple but profound – he may not be smart, but he knows what love is. Portrayed by acting great Tom Hanks, Forrest quoted his mother, the one person who always believed in him – life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.

Indeed, no one knows what tomorrow brings, not even fortunetellers who claim to see what happens next, but winning lottery numbers they could never guess. But it’s not always a box of sweets, sometimes it’s a can of worms. Not the one found in trash, but the kind that is rammed down our throats by those who promised they would do the most.