The best Christmas gift received by my barber
Credit to Author: Rey Elbo| Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2019 16:48:51 +0000
IF you love miracles, this one is for you. Tony (not his real name) is my neighborhood barber. He has transformed from being a katiwala (caretaker) of a beauty parlor somewhere close to 20 years ago to a self-made entrepreneur who established his own barber shop-cum-hair salon these past eight years near my home in Parañaque.
He has a unique style of attracting and retaining clients — a warranty you can’t find elsewhere. If you’re not happy with the result of your hair rebond, even after three months, he will gladly repeat the process at no extra cost. Can you beat that?
Tony was forced to transfer to a new location with a higher rental. The transfer was made as his old location was constructed into a four-story building. Even as he is a multi-tasker, he maintains a loyal set of customers that makes him comfortably support his family composed of his spouse and three young kids, the eldest is around 11. In the middle of all this, he keeps himself updated on the latest technology about hair care and fashion by joining international conferences and contests abroad.
Last Dec. 10, 2019, Tony went to the airport to catch a 7 p.m. flight to Taiwan. For some mysterious reasons, there was a mix-up that brought him at the wrong gate inside a heavily-congested airport that was a far cry from his simple, everyday life as a barber who lives and works within the confines of a 20-square meter shop. He missed his flight.
Oblivious that he could be immediately booked at the next flight, he went back dazed to the immigration counter to clear himself and claimed of what remains to be his travel tax from authorities.
At 12:00 midnight, Tony was back to his nesting shop. At 3 a.m., he was awakened by an unusual, unfamiliar noise, not from his snoring family members. When he opened his eyes, he saw a menacing intruder armed with a long screw driver who has just broken open a sliding glass window. Unmindful of his safety, Tony bluffed his way in the dark by threatening to shoot him and his two accomplices who scampered out of the vicinity, leaving the intruder in his vicious grip, and into the hands of law enforcers.
On reflection, Tony asked me when I was in his barber’s chair listening to his story: “Was it a coincidence that I missed my flight so I can protect my precious, young family?” I replied: “That was a blessing in disguise! You had received an unmistakable sign from God.
Your confusion has saved you and your family. That’s your best Christmas gift ever. You better go to church and give profuse appreciation to the Lord.”
The questions remain the same: “Was it a coincidence? How could Tony’s confusion at the airport saved his family from harm?” At the back of my mind, my answer is simple and profound: I have no clear idea. If you don’t have a ready answer, the best explanation is to give credit and appreciate God for His mysterious ways.
Sure, there are a lot of buzzwords that could give us a clue of what happened to Tony. One of these include “synchronicity” by Swiss analytical psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) who claimed that there are certain events in our life that could be considered as “meaningful coincidences” that happened because of “causality” or “where the cause is partly responsible for the effect, and the effect is partly dependent on the cause,” according to an explanation by Richard Tarnas in his 2006 book Cosmos and Psyche.
It turned out that Tony was fond of using Facebook and was bragging to his friends several days before December 10 that he will be attending an international hair care conference in Taipei. It could be one of the causes that tempted the intruder to do a break in. I suspect that some friends of the intruder may have unwittingly talked about Tony’s trip and planned to do a shopping spree inside his shop full of hair care products ready for the holidays.
Thank you Facebook. Indeed, you’re a double-edged sword.
I wish I could explain Jung’s “synchronicity,” but I don’t want to confuse Tony. It’s enough that he and his young family were safe except for the added hassles of going back and forth to the police, the prosecutor, and the court to pursue the case. For Tony, it seems a little inconvenience to contribute for such a mighty task of helping maintain the community’s peace and order.
This got me to think and ask the following questions: How does God choose to alert a person should an impending tragedy is about to happen to him or his family? Would the same thing apply regardless of one’s religious belief? On that day (December 10), how many persons missed their flight and came back home lucky with their presence averting an untoward incident?
Coincidences? Let’s take the case of 9/11. David Mikkelson of snopes.com compiles a lot of coincidences involving number 11. Here are some examples out of many: New York City has 11 letters, one plane that crashed the Twin Towers was registered as flight number 11 and it carried 92 passengers (9 plus 2 is 11). And another plane — flight 77 that also crashed the Twin Towers was carrying 65 passengers (6 plus 5 is 11).
Even 9/11, when added becomes 11. Check out for more examples from Mikkelson.
So get over yourself. Coincidences are irrational but correct and factual. I can’t explain everything to Tony. The best thing I can advise him is to be thankful to God that he missed his flight to save his family from harm, if not possibly death. That was the most important thing even as we think of the unthinkable by looking at the signs for added precautionary measure.
Rey Elbo is a business consultant specializing in human resources and total quality management as a fused interest. Send feedback to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting.