Unnoticed

Just so happen I met Filbar’s owner, Fil Barbasa, in one of his shop. I was buying my monthly mag and Fil, not knowing who he was, approach me from the back and said why not subscribe for a year? My mind was wondering at that time and I said, nah, malling is a form of relaxation for me. He continued why not subscribe with the international verison of that mag so you can compare both? I said that would mean I will have to pay 4x the amount I am paying right now. He nodded and said yes. Are you an architect sir? He asked. Well, at this point, I was kinda not so in the mood for a conversation but since he politely asked, I said you might get surprised what I do. What do you do? He followed up. I just gave a smile and I said never mind. It is not my thing to talk on what I do especially if we just met. Not spared for another question, he asked, what’s your name sir?  I said my name and he answered, my name is Fil. After getting my receipt, I said, nice meeting you sir and made a hurry exit.

Just as I was going down the escalator, a question popped out in my mind. Why would Fil talk so comfy enough as if he feels we were that close? Then, it hit me, was Fil the owner of Filbars? It made sense, I was in his comfort zone (the shop) and I guess he was. Have I recognized the man early on, I could have stayed and talked more how he managed the business for 2 decades. Filbars was and still known as the authority of comics and magazine distribution.

If you are reading this sir, I won’t mind you asking about what I do. I hope you won’t mind me asking the same (and acutally more).