The Pop-out Lighter

I am truly amazed at how people these days totally disregard life.

It's difficult to miss the fact that 9 out of 10 people in a room will be glued to their smartphone screens, "doom-scrolling" for hours on end. 

Being part of a generation when life was tactile and experiential, I cannot help but fear the digital future ahead. I remember when I was a whole lot younger, every moment was meant to be experienced. I would stare out the car window while my Papa drove us around the city or take a trip to Baguio. I would sit on the balcony of our home in Happy Glen and watch people, learning to read body language and making assessments of characters. 

I was always hungry for knowledge and forever curious about what makes the world tick. 

Back in the day, this was not difficult. Most everything was manual-powered or as I like to say, "tao-matic". Rotary dials, mailboxes, painted posters, the knife sharpening guy who carried around a bicycle-like contraption that spun a grindstone and peddled his skill in making dull blades and scissors cut again.

There was the walking shoe repair guy who carried a handmade, wooden case which opened up to reveal shoe polish, cloths, brushes, rubber glue, and a cobbler's knife that I was so fascinated with. It would be such a joy watching him work. I was always mesmerized by skill, the stained fingers and dirty finger nails, calloused and darkened by all those years handling adhesive and rubber and the curved needles to stitch leather. 

There was this radiator repair shop just around the corner from where I lived where the mechanic's hands were also darkened and stained by years of immersion in a kerosene bath which was black from all the oils and grease mixed into it.

I loved and still enjoy the smell of gasoline and I would always stay close to the gas port while Papa went to fill the tank at the gas station. Speaking of which, I also loved the "ding" sound every time a car pulls up to a gas pump; the way digits roll up the pumps dial like a slot machine and that "ding-ding" sound every time it pumps out a liter.

Then, there was the knob on a black and white television set. It was something that was meant to be handled and manhandled! For some reason, we all returned to our cave man roots every time the cathode ray tube goes blank. A hard slap usually brought back the program you were watching and then there was the antennae when reception was bad. It was what I like to call a "crew-served" weapon with one guy on the roof and another down below hollering instructions to twist the aluminum tube array up top either to the left or the right until there was something showing on screen.

And who wouldn't be orgasmic at the scratching sound of stylus on vinyl?

I always found the scratches and pops of a 45 or 33, combined with the monaural sound of simple speakers quite comforting and therapeutic. When CDs came out, the sound they made was just too clean!

And as records faded away, there was the ultra-tactile feel of the cassette tape especially when either loading or unloading them from the player. It was also like charging a machinegun when the carriage violently ejects or positively locks into place and then the click that feels like you're totally in charge when you finally press, "PLAY".

And don't get me started with photography!

From the moment you pop a film canister open, take a long whiff of the sweet-smelling film emulsion and thread the film leader into the take-up sprockets of a 35mm SLR, you knew you were in Nirvana! Then, there was the manual film advance lever that felt like stroking the bolt of a small-caliber rifle with all the tactile and audible sensations that went with it! It was a feel so orgasmic that it felt like I would pop my load after the first click!

Don't forget all those knobs and the clicks signifying a change in aperture or shutter speed! Of course, cameras would finally go electronic and most would do away with the lever. It was like cassette players which utilized the "soft-eject" function. They began to get boring!

With cars, it was more than just the stick shift, it was about rolling the windows up or down with a crank. What I miss most is the "pop-out" cigarette lighter which was basically a coil that glowed hot after an electrical charge passed through it. Papa would always use this to light up when he was going over a hundred kph on the highway and it was a sure way to get his cigarette going. Of course, older car models definitely encouraged smoking, having provided pop-out ashtrays on the dashboard below the dials and one on every car door. 

There was something about the smell of the first ignition of a cigarette, especially from the "pop-out" that I crave even to this day! For that matter, everything smelled nice back in the day: Caltex "Boron" gasoline; Luneta with the grilled dried squid on sticks; "Going Steady" and the pine tree car air freshener; ladies wearing nothing but Johnson's Baby Cologne or even the hospital where I and all my brothers were born.

Admittedly, the only things that made me enjoy going to school were the smell of a newly sharpened pencil, paper, crayons and chalk on a properly cleaned blackboard. Yes, I love pinching a pencil between my nose and upper lips just because I could never get enough of that shaved wood and lead aroma!

The sound of chalk hitting the board as a teacher writes on it was quite soothing for me and I was one of the few crazy enough to volunteer to erase the board and put the eraser to the cleaning box to whack out all that chalk powder off!

I miss the days when grocery stores had an analog cash register that rings after a sale. I always wanted to be able to punch those large keys while checking out and I was always fascinated with the rotating counter that moved items closer to the cashier so you didn't have to move things yourself.

Travelling back in the day was a little more interesting. Everyone was free to smoke anywhere because for some reason, no one really felt the need for air-conditioning in public transportation. I would always pick the window seat so I could smoke but minimize the inconvenience to other passengers. Provincial buses were more fun as smoking was not only allowed but also encouraged! I remember in one of my trips going back up to Baguio on a Dangwa Liner bus after the summer break, there was this relatively young, Cordillera native driver who laid out 2 packs of Marlboros on the dashboard and he chain-smoked all the way up Kennon Road!

It was not uncommon for Dangwa buses or any other provincial bus to smell funny from chickens, goats, cigar or cigarette smoke, stale food, "bagoong" jars, dried fish, "tupig" and dried puke often greeted passengers and stuck to their clothing when they arrive at their destinations.

The lack of expressways also contributed to my overall travel experience. Looking out the window, I marveled at the beauty of the countryside and savored the culture of each village along the bus route. There was much to be learned just by looking out the window. Aside from that, there were the stopovers that exposed one not only to the food but also what makes each province unique.

But what I miss most about travelling to Baguio was the distinct aroma of pine trees dominating the air long before you're halfway up Kennon Road! Except for the cold temperature, Baguio almost rivals Metro Manila in terms of pollution and the ills a bustling metropolis.

Gone are the days when one walks up to the Post Office, opens a heavy iron mailbox to drop a letter or a small parcel or walk up to one of the operators of the long distance phone call booth just to tell Mommy you're doing well and you need some money for the next few weeks. 

The concept of a public pay telephone system is all but extinct. Back in the day, 5, 10, and 25-centavo coins had value because of the "red phone" in a glass box you had to squeeze into for some privacy to make a call. The red public phones were huge to accommodate coins and had rotary dials so you had to store phone numbers in a notebook or draw from memory. Not having a phonebook or forgetting a person's or girls phone number meant not completing a call. Yes, we sure used a lot of brainpower when we were younger!

Speaking of phones, I miss the ergonomics of the handset. Phones back in the day were meant for conversations--human interactions unlike today when that brick they call a "smartphone" was only meant to hide one's identity and interact anonymously in world of indifference and vicarious thrills. 

People today are being conditioned to live in a digital box. Many are only too willing to give up a lifetime of freedom in exchange for the fleeting moments of dopamine rush. 

Today, we are becoming less human. People brand guys like me, "relics" and "ancient" but we are all that's left of what used to be the human race. Of course, there may still be a handful from the younger generation who do get it or choose to live the way life was meant to be. These young minds and souls might be the only hope if the human race was to survive.