Desperation

For the second (or third) time in a span of six months, I beheld the news of a woman climbing atop a huge billboard and threatening to jump because those whom she sought help from turned a deaf ear to her pleas.
It might be the fad of the moment, that billboards, aside from being mediums for endorsement, also became the medium for a personal public outcry. Indeed, it is a very effective attention grabber. Climb atop a billboard threatening to end your life will ensure your 15 minutes of fame. Law enforcement and media will immediately come to your "aid."

But sad to say, it should have not come to that. The latest story is a mother trying desperately to find her daughter who was spirited away by her allegedly abusive father. The woman who climbed a huge billboard at a train station in the metropolis reached as far as Pampanga, will the littlest of resources, in her vain search. She sought the help of the police and media. And what did she allege: that the police laughed at her and the media ignored her. I can only infer as to her state of mind then. There she was, hungry for lack of food, tired from a continous four-day search, at her rope's end, sought the help of those who should have helped her - or at least listened seriously to her cries, yet was rediculed and ignored.

Maybe if I were at her shoes, desperate to find a child most dearly loved, then ignored when I cried for help, maybe I would also climb that billboard; only so that I can get the seriuos attention I then need. Maybe sometimes what people need is just a listening ear and a little empathy for their pleas. It is just sad that these people had to climb atop a billboard ad to get that needed attention that they so desparately need.