this is how my boss won, in one afternoon, my lifelong loyalty

today i attended a hearing wearing my brown suit which goes perfectly fine with my ferragamo shoes.

my sweet, beloved ferragamo shoes. my 30th birthday gift to myself. my "what's money in the bank if i can't enjoy it" shoes. the shoes i signed the roll of attorneys with. the shoes that i use to validate myself with on really bad days. one of my favorite pairs of shoes.

i love them so much that if i'm wearing them, commuting is out of the question. these shoes get to ride the car. all the time.

anyway, while we were at the NLRC it rained buckets so when we got out, we were greeted by a river pretending to be a street. we waited, and waited, and waited for the water to subside but eventually we decided to just go and brave it.

a couple of minutes before braving the flooded street, my boss took a look at my feet and asked, "kaya mo ba?"

being the cowboy that i am, not to mention the fact that i was a bit scared of him, replied, "of course." after all, what's a pair of really expensive shoes compared to creating a good impression.

he then said, "bago ata sapatos mo."

i winced and replied, "luma na po. at saka, sapatos lang yan." i swear, if i were pinocchio, my nose would have grown a foot longer.

he then indicated that he'd be willing to wait some more but after a couple of minutes, standing in the corner stopped appealing to hm and he suggested again that we go for it. i agreed. then he said, "iha, yung sapatos mo, mababasa. ako na lang kukuha ng kotse. dito ka na lang. daanan kita."

i was left with no words. i simply nodded.

this partner (together with the others) pays for my salary. he taught me everything i know about labor law. he made me appreciate labor as a subject and inspired me to want to become a labor lawyer myself. he is the reason why i applied for this firm, why i left my comfortable job in the CA, and why i'm working for peanuts. and he offers to walk to the car by himself, cross a flooded intersection, and pick me up simply so that my shoes would not get wet.

wow.

and if this isn't enough to earn my undying loyalty, nothing else will.