The Vending Machine Analogy

It was quite a cold evening as my friend and I were comfortably sitting in one of our tambayans in the University. It has a strategic location where a lot of people made their way in this area to their respective college buildings. We talked to friends who passed by, and critiqued and commented on the physical appearances of people we don't know.

After some time we got thirsty from all the talking and gossiping, so I suggested that we buy a softdrink from the vending machine, since it's cheaper to buy there. My friend went to the nearest vendo, while I waited for her in our tambayan to secure our things. She came back empty-handed, saying that the vendo wasn't working. Desperate for a drink, I told her that we should try buying from the other vendos.

We picked up our things, left the tambayan, and walked towards to the 2nd nearest vending machine, which was located near the gate of the College of Engineering building. My friend tried to insert the P20 bill inside the machine, but it won't pick up the money. I tried my luck with my own P20 bill, which was more new and thicker than my friend's bill. The same thing happens.

I called out to the guard near the Eng Gate. "Ate, the vendo's not working. Pero may light naman oh.." I said while pointing to the red light in the vending machine.

The guard inspected the vendo and said, "Ay, walang yellow light kaya di talaga yan gagana. Try nyo sa North Gate."

"Ah, okay po." I replied. My friend and I both thanked the guard and made our way to the next vending machine. The walk was quite far, and we joked that this was like an Amazing Race wherein we have to find the working vending machine. After a few minutes, we arrived at the vendo near the North Gate.

We were delighted when we saw that the machine's yellow light is on. My friend inserted her money in the machine and I pressed the Coca Cola option button. We heard a loud clunk at the bottom of the vendo.

"Yay!" We squealed in delight. I opened the can and took a big gulp.

"Ah, that's refreshing." I said happily.
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In life, we encounter people with almost the same features but different personalities, like in the case of the vending machine, they're all the same outside, but the contents aren't. The numbers of sodas inside of one vendo isn't exactly the same as the other ones. Also, not all of it are working properly.

When one tries to insert a P20 bill in the machine, its like inserting effort to that person that we came across or maybe have an interest in. Several outcomes can occur, like the money could be picked up by the machine, same as the person accepting your efforts without hesitation. But if you didn't see the red light and you tried to exert effort on that person, you'll just be ignored, or worse, rejected.

A rejected P20 bill can't make you get that softdrink in the vending machine. But sometimes even when the effort you gave to the person is accepted, there will be a time when you can't get what you wanted. There will be times that the machine is defective, just "ate" the money and you still can't get a drink.

But the best thing that could happen is when you get what you paid for, or in other words, what you worked hard for. You hear the "clunk" and get the softdrink that you wanted that will relieve your thirst.

There are a lot of vending machines in our life. Don't waste your money on the defective ones. Use it on the only vendo that works. When you get the softdrink that you want and drink it, you'll just say:

Ah, that's refreshing.