outside this building

working inside a building of a big television network gives you the opportunity to meet different kinds of people. you'll see big personalities, celebrities, working professionals and common individuals who are hoping and striving for an instant better life through chances.

everyday, as early as 2 in the morning, there would already be a long pile of people, sleeping on the cold floor outside and waiting for the gates of respective game shows to open. the thing that was alarming about this was that most of them are old women and children who are struggling the cold of dusk by simply drinking hot drinks that they've brought and sharing a thin sheet of cloth.

you wouldn't imagine how its like falling in line on those piles. everybody are outwitting one another, screaming and engaging to fight cats because everybody claims that they came in first: just to learn that at the end of the day that there weren't able to make it to be a contestant. but this obviously wouldn't stop them from applying again and expect them to be on the next dusk, repeating the same viicious cycle.

there was one time, when i came out of work to buy a cigarette, a man was standing in front of the entrance door holding a wide manila paper that states his dismay for the crew of a local game show, who told him nasty things. the man claims that he crew screamed at him and rubbed into him that he doesn't have any chance to make it to the show even if he kept on applying everyday. he was addressing the letter to the host of the game show. i felt sad looking at the man while he was shouting in tears, requesting the host to go out of the building. no host went out.
one thing i also noticed was that there were a lot of psychologically challenged individuals who were walking around the station.

there is zorro, a vagrant along the vicinity that wears tattered and soiled clothes folded and sewed to form a mask and a cape. usually, he guards parked cars infront of the building and do traffic instructing as well. there is also the torch bearer, a vagrant who wears the same type of clothes. you would see him every morning jogging around the building raising an ice cream cone. there is also the talent scout. compare to the previous ones, she wears the typical clothes. but wears an oddly and thickly applied make up. you would see her roaming around coffee shops introducing herself to have lots of connections inside the network and asking people if they want to be an artist. the funny thing about it is there are still a number of people who would bite her offer.

everyday, new sets of people come, stay and go. sometimes they'll talk to you, ask for directions, borrow you lighter, ask for spare coins for jeepny fare and even touch your life.