Roxanne's Closet

To Stare Or Not To Stare
By: Roxanne Estrellado - Limjoco

Why do we stare? When I was young, my parents would often reprimand me for staring, “It’s impolite to stare.” No matter how weird a person is dressed, you should not stare. It doesn’t matter if a couple is French kissing in public, no staring! Even if you catch a person cutting his nails in Church, thou shall not stare.

In school, my parents’ advice would often take a backseat. When you are as “maldita” as I was, staring is a necessity. You have to be good in staring. Of course “parinigan” was the top choice for girl fights but when a teacher was around, “titigan” comes off second best. You have to stare without blinking, the longer, the better. Actually, it’s the longer, the winner. Now that I think about this, we were so silly. Oh well…

Now that I’m oldER, staring seems to have new meaning. It’s so ironic how things are. According to my children, staring is subjective. Staring is not always impolite. I learn so much from my kids. While watching “Prison Break”, Michael and Sara looked into each other’s eyes and in a few moments, kissed.

Red: That is the 3-second stare of romance.

Mama: What? How do you know that?

Red: That always happens in the movies Mama. After the 3-second stare, they are sure to kiss.

Mama: Really now. What happens when the stare exceeds 3 seconds?

Sam: Then that would be the awkward stare.

Red: Yup, REALLY awkward!