I was listening to an IG video concerning the fires in California and an LA native was describing how it felt as 35 kilometers per hour winds appeared to play roulette with the houses down their street. Which way the wind blew he said, the flying embers were sure to follow. Then seconds later, fanned by the wind, flames would burst from these. He said, throughout the ordeal, a cruel paradox was in play; he could not say he was lucky when the wind shifted away from the direction of their house because if it went the opposite direction, that meant it was surely headed toward their neighbor’s and fires would light their houses up.
However, in less serious situations, these contradicting emotions are hardly ever there. In sports for example, there’s a term ‘the breaks of the game’ which pours cold water on such feelings of empathy and feeling sorry for the other party. Athletes and enthusiasts alike brush all these distractions off with ‘malas mo lang’, (loosely translated as ‘tough luck’) or reminding him and everyone, ‘move on, folkies, it’s just a game.’
Meanwhile, it’s also common to imply there’s deific intervention in any sports outcome. Expressions like, ‘thank God, He let us win’ is heard a lot among winners, as if to hint that one’s victory had been an act God. However, if that were true, that could mean that the other party was less favored by Him. In a more extreme case, there was one who once fervently prayed at ringside with rosary in hand, pointing at her son’s opponent each time, as though meaning to throw a hex on the other guy. That may have been too much, to overzealously pray and wish misfortune befalls the opponent, however amusing it looked.
Not be overshadowed by these are the positive ones. Curry shoots a three, makes the sign of the cross, stabs his forefinger to his chest then points at the ceiling. Or Messi doing the same after a goal, pressing his finger to his lips and then pointing it at the heavens as a tribute that’s indicatively saying, ‘all the glory is yours, Creator.’
