Walang Kokontra

Confession:

When I was young, I really got a kick out of watching local comedy films even if that was considered baduy by my friends. I didn’t mind at all that they teased me for my poor taste. After all, I believe that watching these films has served me in good stead because that was how I acquired my sense of humor and comic timing, which, modesty aside, remain as my best (and possibly only) assets now that I’m old.

I mention this because I remember watching how Chiquito or Tito Vic and Joey used to say wala lang pong kokontra every time they were about to perform a magic trick. As a child I used to wonder why it was necessary to say that phrase, until one day, a light bulb flashed in my then tiny head and I understood. They had to say that phrase because nobody believes in magic anymore and that phrase is used to dispel all doubts regarding the authenticity of their magic.

So why am I blogging about this?

Because this morning, I woke up and realized that hey, I’m over him, and it feels like magic.
Anyone who’s seen me at the height of my enchantment could attest that it would take magic—lots and lots of it, in fact— to make me over him. But now I think I am.  For one, I no longer wait for him to go online, I rarely check his Facebook, if at all, and he’s no longer my favorite topic when I’m talking to friends. Plus, I think I’ve finally given up all hopes of seeing him and being with him again. And, most importantly, he’s no longer the yardstick with which I measure every other guy in my horizon.

Parang magic talaga. And in the tradition of all the comic magicians who have gone before me, it’s my turn to say: Wala lang pong kokontra.