UP Fight!

Saturday. My West friends and I decided to watch the UAAP Cheerdance Competition at the Araneta Coliseum. Rich, who's from UP Diliman, called up Ticketnet and UP and she was told that the tickets were being sold at 510 pesos. Man, that was too much! Tickets were originally priced at 110 bucks but it came with a Gift Cert for 300 bucks. We weren't interested with the GC so we decided to watch it at home instead.

Sunday. Rich was told that the tickets were back at 110 pesos. She asked us if we still wanted to watch it live and we all said yes. I was excited since I always wanted to watch any UAAP game or in this case, the Cheerdance competition. But I was also hesitant since we weren't really sure if there were tickets left. I told Rich that Paranaque is a long way from Cubao and I'd rather see it on tv than miss it. She joked that we can go to her place to watch it but she also confirmed that there were tickets.

Rich got first at the place. She was already in line and when we met her, she told us to fall in line and she'd just go to her UP friends who were at the other side. Baka raw kasi mas madali ang pila don. Every now and then, she'd check on us and one time she told us "wala na atang ticket." Coming from work and without enough sleep (we've been up since 11pm the night before since our shift was from 1-10am), that was definitely bad news. Not to mention that it was so hot and we were falling in line that didn't seem to move at all. Our excitement was starting to fade and we all felt like going home instead. Rich went back to her UP friends and after awhile texted us that there were still tickets. Then came another text. She told us to leave our line and go to the ticket booth coz it's almost her turn. While we were finding our way to where she is, one of the guards told them that they can fall in line on the other side. Rich saw that the line was shorter so she left her place and went to the other side. It turned out that it was for general admission, meaning, sa pinakadulo ka na nakapwesto since libre lang yun. She went back to where she left off and the guard would not allow her. Her friends were allowing her to sneak her way through, but the guard was adamant. And so was Rich. When we got there, Rich and the guard were having a heated discussion. The latter was saying that since she left the line already, she couldn't go back anymore and that she needed to fall in line again. Of course that would be the last thing on her mind. She argued that he didn't make it clear that it was for free and she would have not stayed in that line for a long time if she was not willing to pay for it. The guard still said NO! Rich was furious. She was now cursing and shouting at the guard. The guard was shouting back. Rich would curse and shout even harder. She was really fighting with the guard and when she got hold of the rope, she lifted it and ordered us to get into the line. No one dared to move. "Pasok!" Rich shouted with more force. It was like something hit us and made us move forward. All of a sudden, we were all back in line and was almost near the ticket booth. I didn't dare look back at the guard coz I was so scared. Until now, it's a puzzle for me why he was arguing like a mad man before but never asked us to step out of the line when we crossed the rope. Maybe he just decided to let it go.

We actually had a hard time looking for Rich since there were lotsa people. Cherry even asked me to go back to where we were before just in case we wouldn't find Rich, but I told her that I couldn't do that. We left without saying anything, we couldn't go back just like that. I know for a fact na maldita at mataray ako but I wouldn't be able to defend my case if someone protested. So when we found Rich fighting with the guard, we all got scared. Though I agree with her that it was the guard's fault, I was so damn scared we might get hurt, that I was willing to give it all up. I told 'em that we'd better just leave. Good thing, they didn't listen.

When we got our tickets, we rested for awhile and got a hold of ourselves. Rich told us what exactly was going on her mind at that time. She said that she could only think of me and how she wanted to make sure that I'd be able to watch the show and wouldn't let me down. She wanted to fulfill my "goal" since I've been wanting to watch any UAAP event. Rich also thought of the fact that I live in Paranaque and there was no way for me to catch it on tv if we go home at that time. So she did what she had to do. She stood up and fought for her rights - even if it meant fighting with someone who had a gun! A true-blue Iska ng Bayan! UP Fight!

Although UP was only second to UST, we were so pumped up! The tension we had felt before was replaced with triumph, joy and positive enegy. I, personally, felt so much happiness and was so thankful to Rich coz she was willing to fight and sacrifice her own safety. All for a friend. For me. I love you mah friend! :-)