The Imprinting

The Imprinting Among Humans
Excerpt from the autobiography “everybody Calls Me Sir” by Windfield A. Bacoy

Imprinting is a common idea in the animal world. A bird reared by humans will follow humans and be intimate with them, taking no second look to other birds, thinking it is one with humans.

I am also influenced by this imprinting, due to the remnants of animal instinct lying dormant within me. I believe that teachers are the bearers of truth as what I long believed when I look at my teachers when I was young.
When my teacher gave us time to conduct a short program inside our class, it perceived it as a sign of giving us independence. We didn’t give much fuzz how busy she was scribbling her LP. When she let one of our classmates do the copying of the book’s contents to the board, I thought of it as a way of training us to write well.
In my first few years of teaching, I once more experienced that imprinting situation. I always felt elated each time I hear students greet me good morning with their magalang bow, though I always frown where did these students catch the idea of bowing when we Filipinos never have that practice. Imprinting, maybe.
Once, my co-teacher invited us for a lunch since she happened to be gifted financially. She knew too well that we were avid fans of free meals. Man cannot live by bread alone, they say, so when I was offered a glass of wine I took a shot. I took one, two and when my world started to whirl I forgot to count.
My male co-teacher was hardest hit, since he wanted to lie down on our female counterpart. I pulled him just in time to avoid a hard blow enough to make him sober.
Alcohol made us act slow and the clock to tick fast since we came back to school an hour late. I was met by the beetle-skinned security guard telling us that students were seen on a drinking spree. I hurriedly went to the place spreading my legs wide apart to avoid wobbling. It has been known that when two or three gathered together in...