Burger with cheese

Money was real tight back when I was a student. So tight that burgers became a de facto category in my main food groups. And by burgers, I don't mean the Jollibee kind, which was a luxury at the time, but the 20-peso burger from a mobile cart kinda deal.

It wasn't so bad. You eventually get used to the cardboardy taste after a while. But what really ticked me off about the whole situation was when I became aware of the evil imperialist machinations of the burger industry.

"With cheese, sir?" The girl innocently asked after I've placed an order for a burger. Just a burger. No order for a coke. No fries. And damned well no cheese. The extra 3 pesos I needed to shell out for that sliver of what they hope passes for cheese was simply beyond my financial capacity. Surely, these burger cart operators were aware of this. I mean, I am ordering a hamburger from a mobile cart. That alone tells you my last bank account balance didn't break 100. So why the darned stupid automatic question? Was that supposed to be rhetorical?

So I just had to shoot back at the evil empire, "Miss, burger with cheese will make it a cheeseburger. I didn't order a cheeseburger. I ordered a hamburger. That means no cheese." I was a little snarky. I didn't like being called out as a cheapskate who was unwilling to part with his 3 pesos.

But what happened next was trully unexpected. The girl literally cried. And then gave this heartfelt speech of how we UP students are all full of ourselves. That just because she wasn't a UP student makes her dumb. That in fact she was also a student, and inspite of having to work at that job, she was on top of her class.

I was taken aback. She misread my statement. I didn't mean that to be a personal attack on her intelligence. I knew she was MADE to ask that darned automatic question. She was just a cog, part of the evil machine, and she was unaware of it. Hate had blurred my vision and I had just shot a footsoldier. Much as I abhorred the evil machinations of the imperialist burger industry, there was simply no reason for me to shoot at a mere pawn -- unaware of the bigger picture of how these evil burger carts are there precisely to keep the student population blissfully unaware of the bigger picture themselves.

But it was too little too late. Too late to apologize. Finally, I just decided to order my burger to go.