Pieces of Paper = Priceless

It was horrendous, utterly, shockingly horrendous. The way the Typhoon Ondoy devastated San Mateo was just absolutely terrible. For one little boy there I saw on the news (I forgot the name), this was certain. I mean how could he not cry given the fact that his entire house is still filled with flood waters? How could he not be saddened by the fact that most of the family's earthly possessions are gones, swept away by the current. The worst thing, however, the final blow to make him bawl his eyes out was this: all his books are now soggy mush.

That's right. That little boy was wailing was caused by his textbooks turning into pulp. It was the fact that his books plunged into oblivion that saddened him most.

Now, I know. It's books --- pieces of paper bound together meant to be read. You could procure one very easily. Hey, I even recall my second-hand copy of the classic French play "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand being bought for P10. Yes, you can get a book for the same price of a McDonald's ice cream cone. So why the fuss?

But you see, those words imprinted on that paper happen to do something very valuable --- feed our minds. Through those sentences, our minds are taught to imagine. Those pieces of information and the values that come along with it will get embedded in our brains for future use. And just what future use might that be? Well, after all, the constitution mentions that education is integral to national development.

I really admire that boy for valuing his education like that. After all, like I've said, to value education is to value the future of this nation. The gratitude he had when he received those donations of school supplies to replace his submerged ones shows his appreciation to be given a chance to fulfill his dreams through an education.

I suppose it shows that they're not just mere pieces of paper, after all.