The priests, 3
What thoughts ran through my mind as I sat through the virtual videoke night cum bikini festival with the priests? I’m certainly no prude—being an erstwhile fashion editor, I can accept fashion as self-expression, but I also acknowledge certain limitations to that kind of exercise. My mother, queen of tolerance herself, surprised me one day I was to have a beach outing with my staff—a jeepney load of male and female 20-somethings. With us was a priest, our moderator. She said, almost shyly, “Pag maliligo kayo kasama ng pari, magsosoot kayo ng shorts.” Shorts, over our swimsuits? “Yes.” But what for? “Huwag ninyong ipapakita mga singit ninyo sa mga pari; hindi maganda iyon,” she continued. I didn’t get her drift, but I did honor my mother’s concern by telling the girls about her reminder. On the way home from the same outing, during a “CR” stop at a gasoline station, I caught two of the boys snickering as they came out of the toilet. “What’s so funny,” I