Dear Manang,
My friend worries me. He always eats the same food, chips and coke, for snacks, lunch, and dinner. He doesn’t drink water. He says that the food gives him energy and makes his mind sharp. I almost believe it because he remains at the top of our year level in college and we are graduating next semester. I feel that he is going to get seriously ill soon. I tried to make him go to the school doctor when he said he had a stomach ache and couldn’t stand. He just asked me for Paracetamol and water and after a few minutes he looked fine again. He says he will survive.His uncle is a doctor and he can go to him anytime. Should I tell his uncle?
Margo of Malaya Village, Baguio City
Dear Margo,
I met a person with a similar obsession with a diet of chips and soda. She was smart too and believed that her body only needed a bag of chips and soda for the rest of her life. Today she is on her sixth year of dialysis and regrets her stubborn attitude about eating regular food. She thought that chips were harmless but when she read about the salt and sugar content of corn chips and the toll it did to her digestion and kidneys, she regretted it a little too late. She was just pumping sugar and salt into her system. She has spent so much money to live. I hope your friend doesn’t faint in school and need to be rushed to the hospital. Maybe you can use scare tactics to get him to see a doctor before it is too late and get his laboratory tests done soon. I hope you can also get him to change that diet. Tell his doctor uncle, if you must just to save his life.
Convince him,
Manang
Dear Manang,
Is it okay to be angry all the time? As if nothing is going right with me these days. I am angry when I wake up and begin to scold my brother for the smallest things like not putting the cover on the toothpaste or not folding his blanket. I get angry when I don’t like the food my mother cooked. They call me sungit in the house. I can’t help it. Am I crazy?
Elsa of Lualhati Barangay, Baguio City
Dear Elsa,
You have a serious case of bad attitude or negative disposition. Did someone break your heart? We have choices in our life and this New Year should give you a fresh start. When the priests or pastors say we should be thankful, they ask us to begin to look for the good things that happened to us and thank God. You can also look at the morning sky and look for the beautiful colors and feel the beauty. We make our lives, we direct it. Do you like angry people? Of course you don’t. That’s how people regard you too. See the good thing about your brother like how he looks in a clean uniform or your mother’s delicious pancakes. You can help yourself, eat something sweet.
You are the master,
Manang
