FLS #5: Felixir Gatcheco

iii. prologue

iii. prologue

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"Ikaw, Sir. What's your say about obsession?"

The class fell into deep silence. Sa kalagitnaan ng pagpapaliwanag ni Felix ng aralin sa klase ay isang tanong ang bigla na lamang tinuran ng kanyang estudyante ngunit sa halip na magalit ay nilingon niya ang nagsalita at ginawaran ng munting ngiti.

"Nasa Altruism ang topic natin. Bakit parang ibang subject ang iniisip mo?" Felix joked but he didn't dismiss his student's query.

Nahihiya namang tumayo ang babaeng nagtanong. She smiled apologetically before continuing. "Sorry po, Sir. Naalala ko lang po 'yong topic namin kanina. Kung sa Psychology, ang obsession ay isang sakit. Paano naman po sa Ethics? I hope you won't mind, Sir."

Felix shook his head and leaned his weight on the teacher's table at the middle. "I won't. It's my job as your teacher to answer your questions."

Felix is a professor at Sariaga State University na kanya ring alma-mater. Graduate siya ng Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at may Masteral Degree rin. Philo wasn't really what he wanted to study, but the younger him was a rebel so he decided on the most obscure course in SSU. Fortunately, he came to love the subject kaya tinuloy na rin niya hanggang sa pinakamataas na antas na kaya niyang aralin. Right now, he has been teaching Ethics for three (3) years.

"Obsession is wrong in Ethics depending to the school of thoughts you want to see it. For Kant, regardless of the consequences as long as your actions are deem wrong, it's unethical. For Aristotle, as long as your end goal is for the betterment of everyone, regardless of your actions, it is deem morally. Lahat tayo ay may isang bagay, minsan tao, na hindi natin kayang bitiwan. If you can let it—them go easily then that means you don't want them enough."

"Pero hindi po ba ang obsession ay too much love? And everything that is too much is harmful. And according to Aristotle one should always be in between, not too less and not too much."

"Or maybe it is because of too much passion. Sometimes it's too much fear. Other times, inferiority." Felix pushed his glasses above his nose bridge using his left index finger. "We are all obsessed. Just different in severity, reason and way."

"Psychology judges our mental health based on its own objective standards. They have their universal standard. While Philosophy judges our actions based on the general subjective standards because in philosophy everything can be right and wrong. Kaya hindi rin direktang masagot ng Philosophy kung tama ba o mali ang obsession. Depende." Umayos ng tayo si Felix saka muling bumalik sa tapat ng whiteboard na sinusulatan niya kanina. "I hope that answered your question, Miss Carandang."

Miss Carandang nodded enthusiastically. She gave her thanks to Felix before she sat down. Babalik na sana sa pagdi-discuss si Felix nang may isa pang humabol ng tanong.

"How about you naman po, Sir? Do you have any obsession?"

"Anong tanong ba 'yan 'teh? Syempre si Misis Gatcheco ni Sir, kaloka ah."

Felix just laughed at his student's remark. Hinawakan niya ang gintong singsing na nasa kaliwang palasingsingan niya at inikut-ikot bago muling nagsalita.

"Of course. Who else would it be if not my wife?"

Loud cheers echoed the room. Hindi lingid sa kaalaman ng mga estudyante ni Felix na may asawa na siya. Wala yatang hindi nakakaalam sa engrandeng kasalang naganap sa Barrio Celeste. Mag-iisang taon na rin ang nakalilipas.

"Stop asking about my married life if you don't want me to give a surprise quiz," biro niya sa kanyang mga estudyante na dali-daling nagsitahimik.

Felix continued his lecture for another hour before he dismissed his class with an announcement na hindi siya magbibigay ng midterm exam. Everyone was so grateful they nearly chanted 'St. Felix, pagpalain mo kami.'