Parallel lines

Parallel lines also known as, the equilateral distance between two lines, are lines that never meet. They do not try to move inward or outward and yet no matter how far or long the lines go or move, they never ever meet. Henri Frederic Amiel once wrote, “Sacrifice, which is the passion of great souls, has never been the law of societies.”

As in math, parallel lines never meet. They correspond to each other and as much as they may be alike they do not "see" each other. They fulfill their cause and no matter what happens to these lines , as long as they stick to what they do, their lines never meet.

Good Evening people, This is Johnny Rizaldo Gomez and this is his story.

A major in engineering, the aspiring engineer was common to all, yearning to experience the ways of the world, wanting the norms of fame and the entice of money and status. As much as he pursued what many seem disillusioned by , his belief never wavered , that he would eventually return home to his friends, his family and his roots.

Johnny had left his native country philippines for Singapore with a degree in engineering upon graduation in a local university. His drive to earn a better life, a better future and an unsafe ticket to being stuck hence began.

Parallel lines are bound by one another, never changing. Which is why two lines will never meet even though ironically they may seem alike and corresponding. But with the exception of squares, trapeziums and parallelograms and even more, lines meet to form something else. The other two need not be parallel but when they join with parallel lines they form a picture. I like to call these lines " helping hands" or an even more suitable term " communication".

Johnny Rizaldo Gomez never expected much in life although he wanted a great deal . To his dismay, the first year in an alien country seemed a tough one but with the availability of networks and phones, his family wasn too far away from him. However he grew more and more successful and it wasn't difficult to climb that corporate ladder given his ability and intellect. Globalization made the world smaller and easier to reach for Johnny. Osama Bin laden is not anywhere obvious to be found yet he reaches the screens of our computers and televisions so easily.

It was the same for Gomez then. He could reach home with the [helping hand of communication] without needing to be there at all.

These lines that we call helping hands or communication joins the parallel lines to form a picture or something out of it. But although they indeed join them, do they meet? they cross paths their paths are led together by this line, but does that point of the parallel line meet the other? Yet both these lines do not compromise where they go or where they'll be. They do what they need to without changing direction or course. Just as trains, the trains may change but the tracks and the tunnels are always the same.

Earning money got easier and his status could only soar by the blink of an eye. He earned what
he got. He ate delicacies and drove the finest of cars. Yes, Gomez was one success story but he did not feel whole or complete as the days went by. And he found that missing link in a filipino restaurant called kabayan in lucky plaza. He savoured the taste of his hometown favourite adobo. At that instant he recollected moments of his time as a boy and the reminiscent of his times as a man when he was studying there spending the most carefree and joyous times of his life. It was evident that he was relieved that he had contact with his family and home but it was a bold that communication wasn't exactly the best remedy to the pain he felt, missing his family.

So as it was Johnny Rizaldo Gomez found himself unable to make ends meet, not on a monetary issue but of home and wealth. The harder he worked, the further he went and th emore he stuck to what he had to do, he found that nothing changed. He was as far away from his family as before. And yet ironically there was nothing he could do. He could not thwart his movement towards his longing for home and yet couldn compromise his action to give up and return home.

Parallel lines move a never ending distance but their movement never thwarts. They never bend neither do they move towards each other. The distance between the two are always the same no matter how far they move or try. Both lines do not give in or change their minds about how they move.

It is common in life that we stick to who we are it is also essential to realize we cannot compromise who we are. If we do, people love us for then, something else. Yet is ironic how two people that may seem alike are as such parrallel lines, moving in towards the same direction but yet never meeting on certain aspects. Is that a tragedy? A source of negativity? I guess it means nothing. It just means they never meet. It does not have to suggest more.

Night.