HAPPY WEEKENDS IN 2008!

(FROM A WEEKEND NOTE, THE EDITOR'S LETTER IN STYLE WEEKEND, THE FRIDAY SPECIAL IN MANILA BULLETIN, 28 DEC 2007)

We’re down to the last four days of 2007. What have you promised to do this year that you have yet to do? You still have time, unless the next four days have already been reserved for the last-minute get-togethers that did not make it last Christmas.

BLURB
Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. —Oprah Winfrey

The year ahead, like all the years before it, will doubtless have its own set of challenges, the most serious of which, as it increasingly appears, may be the very survival of our planet. All other resolutions seem pointless, if we fail to address the one issue that threatens to obliterate opportunities to resolve all other issues, including terrorism, poverty, and our conflicting political ideologies.

But maybe global warming just sounds too much for one person to have to do something about, although, as they say, all it takes is one person to make a difference. I’m thinking maybe we should all start taking our weekends seriously in 2008, spending these precious two days as enjoyably as we can and, for the sake of the planet, as simply as we can.
What about weekends in the country? Now that’ll save energy if only because we can keep our airconditioning units unplugged for at least two days, especially if we spend the weekend in places like Tagaytay or Baguio or maybe the seaside in Batangas or Cavite or La Union.

But what about gas? Why not take the bus? It’s not really too much of a sacrifice, especially if we all start making it imperative for the bus operators to make the ride easier, more convenient, cleaner, safer, and more practical an alternative to driving ourselves. Better yet, if we are aligned in making our weekends more exciting, we can all pool together, riding vans full of friends out to have fun rather than driving our own individual carbon-emitting, globe-warming machines.

Throughout the weekend, maybe we can shut out the world, along with our everyday routines, which have undoubtedly put our future in jeopardy. Why should it hurt at all to spend two days out of seven every week doing something different? Keep your mobile phones away. Don’t take the laptop out of the bag. Let the TV rest. Ok, maybe keeping the radio off is far too much, but if 15 minutes of meditative silence a day can do wonders, just imagine what two days of quiet can do.

Our food habits are a major cause of planetary distress and there’s so much to do in the weekend to try to reduce our impact on the environment. It might be quite a refreshing change to turn vegetarian even just for the weekend. The purists might have some objections, but if we cannot stay away from meat forever, it might be bearable to try it just two days every week. Every year, that’s roughly 104 days to spend free from fat and cholesterol. You need not consider how Earth will benefit because the health benefits alone are compelling enough. Well, I’m sure it’s enough reason for a great number of pigs and cows and geese and chicken and fish to look forward to the weekend.

It might be a good idea to try to live like the rest of the natural world on the weekend, eating only when we are hungry and just picking off stuff in the backyard, like tomatoes or eggplants or okra, rather than orchestrating a major production in a kitchenful of energy-dependent thingamajigs like gas ranges, blenders, ovens, and high-tech egg beaters. If you’re feeling hot, think twice before turning on the airconditioner or even the electric fans. Maybe it’s just a matter of opening the windows. Lions, after all, can survive African summers, manes and all.

But what happens to the economy while we are taking the weekend off? What happens when all of a sudden we are two days less dependent on oil, electricity, energy, automation, technology, and all?

The question is why do you think global warming is still subject to international debate despite the many indications demanding the immediate recognition of—and immediate action on—it. To borrow from James Carville, Clinton campaign strategist, who coined the phrase in the 1992 Clinton-versus-Bush presidential derby, “it’s the economy, stupid!”

A
post me at aapatawaran@yahoo.com