This gentleman goes to Bangkok to visit a jeweler. The shop is one of the many dazzling Alladin’s cave of scintillating delights that have beguiled many a tourist into this exotic Asian kingdom. As fate would have it, the gentleman had entered a particularly interesting shop and browsed through the display cases. At first glance, he could be mistaken for a local for he blended right in with his squarish jaw, Malay tan, thick straight jet black hair peppered with grey, and regular Asian build. His eyes are not narrow slits on his brown face, but are quite rounded only to have the outer corners betray his oriental origin with the sure upward strokes. The way he moves with ease around the shop tells an observer that he knows his way around. He has been here quite a number of times before.
Well, it so happened that also immersed in the colorful sea of gems was a tall, heavily-built gentleman on the wrong side of 40. His features, his bulk, and his imperious air reveal the European strain of his genes. He does not speak the kingdom’s language. It is safe to dismiss him as another foreigner, naturally. Of course.
The first gentleman had begun his study of the treasures before him. Was he in search of a particular stone? Or was he just going over the displays? No one really knew what was on his mind on that day. The other gentleman who was standing nearby was also engrossed in inspecting some stones. So, now, in that Bangkok shop are two men lost in their world.
However, like in any dream, the dreamer has to awake sometime and, in this case, the second gentleman had caused the first gentleman to snap to attention. The former had blurted out just two words one of which was succinct and sharp that incriminated him. In any court of law, his words would be considered as res gestae. He must have dropped an item and the action caused him enough alarm to shout, “Ay, bilat!” The first gentleman swung ‘round to face him with a puzzled knowing look on his brown face. “Bilat?” The first gentleman addressed the second. The latter saw that look of recognition on the first gentleman’s eyes, so, he asked, “Taga-Bacolod ka?” The reply was, “Oo.”
And there ends the story, ladies and gents, of how a word can connect two people in a foreign land and reveal much about their roots. One bad word was all it took.
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