The Office Tsismis Experiment

Last Friday, I brought along my IT friend named Zarah (a.k.a. Jong in our circle) with me in watching Repertory Philippines production of “Gaybirds”. We were with other four female officemates (mine). It was a fun experience for so many reasons. First and foremost, it was my first attempt to drag a friend and have her mingle with the rest of my colleagues. We even had a nice time drinking dark beer at Grappa’s right after the play.

Four days later, I’ve been bugged by some clever questions in the office confirming if I had a date last Friday. Almost the rest of the details are correct though: I paid for Jong’s ticket, we were in a separate table during dinner and yes, I treated her as if she’s date (what else should I do, I was a knight in shining armor wannabe decades ago). And then the envelope was sealed: Manny had a date last Friday!

OK, fine. It’s a good tsismis, by the way! How can I easily dismiss that? It feels good so let me handle that and linger on it for a while. The fleeting feeling, no matter how fake, is there. It just feels good. At least, at some point, people will stop pushing me to a cliff called “having a girlfriend” and for the better, the questions will now be “how did you meet?” and “how old is she?”.

Years back, I encountered the same scenario in my hometown. I was a victim of another positive tsismis that I will be availing a transfer student program to Canada. Wow. My friends were questioning me then why I was still in the province (as if they wanted to get rid off me).

Now, I’m having a conclusion that we hate tsismis only if it destroys us. It’s not really about telling the truth and being a Christian, etc. Everything boils down to, err, feeling. Given this premise, maybe I should start spreading good tsismis about my friends in the office then let me see what’s gonna happen.

Call this The Office Tsismis Experiment:

JENG got pregnant by a suave Korean breakdancer. The bees and the birds happened last end of February while Jeng was having a medical check-up at Makati Med. The guy was visiting a sick friend.

JOEL will soon leave Chicosci. Good Charlotte pirated him (too bad).

IAM and GE won a trip to Amsterdam to catch Incubus live in concert at the AJAX Arena, backstage pass included.

ERIK will soon own a perfume shop in Powerplant Mall. Nina agreed to be the image model.

RUTH was tapped to double for Shaina Magdayao in a soon to be launched fantaserye.

BEN is now the Cherifer model. His billboard will soon greet the commuters along EDSA.

JAMIH is the first male Fil-Chi to be a PBB grand winner. He’s selling the condo unit that he won for P500 only.

ALLAN is finally accepted at Westpoint. His first task is to spy on his all-time favorite blogger.

PAO was personally invited by kuya Germs to be a guest co-host along with John Nite.

SOCS no longer prefers doing IT consulting. She won an EOS 30D and she’s planning to open a studio in SM Mall of Asia.

PIPE was sexually harassed by Tim Yap while fitting a Team Manila shirt. He made a fortune by appearing at The Buzz.

HUBES is discovered for a Koreanovela while walking along Eastwood Mall wearing a basketball jersey.

EDRIK now owns a motel super complex in Makati.

TOPENG landed a job in Vegas as a stand-up comedian. He’s replacing James P. Connolly (I don't know him either).

JAY is gracing a pictorial for a new "product" from Vicky Belo.

BENE finally got his much-awaited “oo” from the girl of his dreams. They will soon explore Dublin for possibilities.