Flat tires on the road of life.
February 17, 2008Flat tires delay or prevent us from getting to our destinations. The situation, people, cars and streets may differ for every instance but one thing about flat tires is constant.
Getting a one is a nuisance.
Now let’s say that flat tire was on the road we call life…
—
Villamor Tuason drives what embodies public transport in Ateneo, a tricycle. He’s been driving one for a few years now. But Villamor Tuason, also known as Billy, didn’t start out as a tricycle driver.
Mang Billy hails from the province. He was born on Dec. 20, 1962, just a few days short of Christmas, in Catanduanes. He was the fourth child in his family at the time but in the end there were 10 of them. Mang Billy can be considered on of the middle children since he saw 6 other siblings come after him. With Lorenzo, Romeo, Remus, himself, Amando, Antonia, Milagros, Millie and Amelita, it was a relatively large family. His parents, Maria and Rufino struggled to raise all their children.
For Mang Billy, his parents hard work paid off. His parents saw him graduate high school. He went on to taste tertially level education when he took up a two year vocational course in fish processing. Mang Billy’s life can be seen as a testament to hard work.
Unfortunately not everything went fine for this family of 10. Mang Billy reveals that not all of his siblings are alive. He seemed a little reluctant about it so we didn’t really press him.
At the age of 21, Mang Billy set out for Manila to try to help his family. He eventually found a life of his own and decided to settle in the city. Mang Billy recounts that it wasn’t easy at first. In fact when he first arrived in Manila, he got mixed up with a fishy syndicate. He was cheated out of money which made his life even harder.
With hard work he managed to bounce back.
He currently lives in Project si in Quezon, with his wife, Nelia and his three kids. Hard work paid off once again since it seems his children are doing well. 2 of them are in high school while the first one is currently a 1st year college student.
We also talked a little about his Mang Billy’s beliefs. He was born and raised as a traditional Roman Catholic. It was only when he transferred to Manila that he made a switch. A brother from the Victory Christian Ministry in Cubao preached about their beliefs. He listened to the brother and eventually made the switch.
Life wasn’t easy for Villamor Tuason and there were problems but in the end he’s made it.
—
my life hasn’t been s dramatic (well who knows, i’m still in college, lots of stuff can happen) but i see some comparisons in our life.
Like Mang Billy
- I am also from the province
- I am also currently living in Quezon.
- my days also revolve around Katipunan (dormer kasi)
In terms of family I am like Mang Billy
- I am a middle child
- There are three children in his family
I also discovered we share some other things. Like Mang Billy
- I am male :>
- I was also born in December
- I believe in my beliefs
- I am religious
- I like chess and dama
Of course, not everything in our lives is similar
Unlike Mang Billy
- I have not lost any siblings (and sure hope I won’t)
- I am close to my family (He doesn’t really keep contact with his family in Catanduanes)
- I only have three siblings
- I’m not really fond of the sea (he took up fish processing for a reason)
- I am Roman Catholic (and believe that I will remain one)
- I live in Ateneo, he just comes here to work
- I came to Manila for school (i don’t think i want to work here either)
- I am still studying (he has already finished)
- my life in Manila is relatively easy (school is the exception)
- I dress freely. (If you haven’t noticed yet, all the tricycle drivers are required to wear red)
—
My life can’t really compare to Mang Billy’s. He’s got 47 years under his belt, my 17 years of experience won’t compare to his. Mang Billy is proof that hard work and determination can work.
He faced deaths, he faced being fooled, he faced hardships. He faced a lot but he survived.
So while my life can’t compare to Mang Billy’s, I do hope that I can find the drive to succeed just like he did.
—
So what do you do when one of your tires go flat on the road of life?
Don’t break down. Work… Change it and move on.
It’s simply written and understandable. It is written in an organized manner and it really tells the reader about Mang Billy’s inspiring life. Moving on from our failures is the only way to reach success later. Go Mang Billy!
This post can be more interesting if more and better complex modifiers are used. The comparison part is organized by classifying it. However, didn’t ma’am say that we will only use one paragraph each for the first and last paragraph?
The post gives the story of Villamore Tuason’s life in an interesting way. The reflection part gives insights to the experience of both Vince and Villamor. However, it is somewhat lacking and Vince should have given more insights not only to Villamor’s experience but to his other aspects as well. This blog can be read by a person that can spare three to four minutes.
Summary:
It’s basically a simple story about Many Billy’s life. He was born to a huge family and to parents who worked hard for their children. Unfortunately, bad times hit the family of Mang Billy, there were some people who passed away and financial crisis hounded their family. Mang Billy decides to go to Manila to help support the family but then is met with swindlers and lies.
Mang Billy is able to survive these events and make a new and improved life for himself. He now lives a happy life with his family here in Manila. Although his life is far from perfect and though he still needs to work for what he wants, his life is one to make us reflect on our own and realize that we too can climb out of the slump that we sometimes find ourselves in.
Other comments:
The post is simply written and can do better with more descriptions and deeper insights. The thoughts are very well organized though, it just lacks some more feeling that will get the reader to empathize some more with Mang Billy. It is obvious that Vince can really see the similarities and differences between his experiences and Mang Billy’s experiences.
Summary:
It is a story of Villamor Tuasons’s life. He was born few days away from Christmas and to a large family. His parents struggled to make him finish his education. There were also some deaths in his family. At the age of 21 he went here to Manila and he worked hard. Now, his family is doing well. Even though there are problems in his life, he is able to survive them all.
Assesment:
-This post can be more interesting if more and better complex modifiers are used.
-The comparison part is organized by classifying it. -However, didn’t ma’am say that we will only use one paragraph each for the first and last paragraph?
-The post gives the story of Villamore Tuason’s life in an interesting way.
-The reflection part gives insights to the experience of both Vince and Villamor. However, it is somewhat lacking and Vince should have given more insights not only to Villamor’s experience but to his other aspects as well.
-This blog can be read by a person that can spare three to four minutes.
i <3 u vince
Where is your next blog entry? I need to make a comment about it.
to both blossom and darna: i’m sorry, na late ang next entry, i had long tests and this slipped my mind.
tsk3x! just slipped ur mind huh…oh well! :p [edited
] *peace!*
i edited your comment
-Frances
they will be waiting vince!!! :))
*soorrrryyy!!! ang sabaw kooo…and i feel like randomly making comments today!* haha!