anecdote for the day

With all of us Filipinos here in the office back to work from the holidays, we share goodies with our colleagues -- from Boy Bawang to ensaymada to dried mangoes to polvoron.

My colleague sitting next to me is a Muslim, and obviously he only eats Halal items -- meaning no pork or lard. This morning he whispered to me, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what?" I asked.

"Can I eat this?" He showed me a polvoron he was holding.

"Yeah of course!" I replied. "It's just milk powder and sugar."

"But I saw this," he countered. Then he pointed to the fine print that said "pinipig polvoron".

I started laughing. "Pinipig doesn't come from the pig! It's just toasted rice!"

It's just these moments that make me feel better during the dreadful working hours, even for just those few seconds.