Give Us This Day Our Jollibee

[Manila, 4/13/25]

For unknown reasons, the never closed Coffee Bee wasn’t open today. With much sorrow, bitterness and self-recrimination, I had no choice but to enjoy my first black java at Jollibee. What’s up with this bee shit? Did my predator instinct steer me towards an overly made up broad falling asleep in the corner? Self servingly, I’ll claim empathy.

Leaving, I meow meowed at a clean looking cat by the door. For good reasons, Southeast Asian dogs and cats are less trusting of strangers, but this one rolled over to be petted. In the dark, I walked by sleeping figures on the ground. Next to a tuk-tuk, a dark, bony man slept with his two skinny sons, aged 7 and 4 perhaps? Curled up on cardboard, a man wore this T-shirt, “FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS, JUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FUN TOO.” Sitting on a chair, an old woman was well wrapped in thin blankets. On her lap was a puppy with just one paw sticking out.