The Sofa Bed

By Banjo Sarmiento

Last month, my mother wanted to buy a second-hand sofa bed for her room aside from her main
bed. We saw a sofa bed online at a special discount, and we were able to buy it for almost 50%
of the original price. We had a couple of problems especially about the pick-up location because
it was almost one hour from our place, and we had no van nor truck to pick up the sofa bed. Even
if we had one, neither of us could have driven four wheels.

So, I told my mother that I was going to talk to a guy named Manny who had previously
provided us with pick-up and drop-off services. He knows his way around Manila and, unlike
other van drivers, he is friendly and easy to contact with even in an emergency.

After I remembered that his number is still on my phone, I called him.

As his phone rings, Manny quickly answered.

“Hello?” He said while his dog barks loudly.

“Hi Manny? Are you free today?” I asked.

“Yes Ma’am! What can I do for you today? Sorry for the loud noises here, it is because of my
dog.” He responds.

I can still hear his voice clearly even if his dog was noisy because his phone was near his
mouth while speaking.

“I need a drive to pick-up the sofa bed we bought in Manila, can you do it by yourself? I just got
home from work and I am still dizzy,” I said.
He quickly answered “Can you please send me the exact address in Manila ma’am? So, I’ll
know how far and how many minutes I would travel from here to there.” He asked.

I quickly sent him the address of the surplus store to his messenger.

“Ma’am this is too far, but I can manage it for you. I’ll call you as soon as I get there.” He
spoke.

“Thank you, Manny!” I said.

“I’ll drop the phone now ma’am. I’ll get ready now so I could get there before night,” he said as
he dropped the phone quickly.

Since I had been working all night, around 9 am, I got too exhausted to stay up and ended up
going to bed as the clouds started to get dark and obviously, it will rain soon.

Around 10:30, I received a call.

With my mind foggy with sleep, I picked up the phone. I recognized Manny’s voice and the first
sentence I heard was, “I am at the pickup location now, please call… to you ma’am…signal in
this location.”

I didn’t get his point. I don’t know if it is me or his signal connection, so I quickly dropped the
phone and called him again. Ten calls have dropped, no answer. So I called the owner of the store
twenty minutes after Manny called me.

The owner of the store quickly answered the phone.

“Hi, this is Idia. How may I help you?” she asked.

The rain suddenly began to drop and affected my mood as well as the signal of my phone.

“Hi this is Mae. I would like to ask if my pick-up driver is there already. His name is Manny, he
is the one who will pick up my sofa bed.” I said.

Miss Idia began to shout and said, “Hello? Are you pranking me? I cannot hear you, all I hear
is the shhhh sound and the rain pouring on your roof. If you are pranking me, please stop, I have
so much work to do!”

I was shocked, I did not hear her voice clearly. All I heard was that she thought I was pranking
her but not. I do not have any idea on what was going on, so I responded to Miss Idia quickly.

“Miss Idia, I am Mae, the one who bought the 2nd hand sofa bed, can you hear me?”

Miss Idia responds “Hello? Hello? I can’t hear you.” Then she hanged up the phone.

I could not help but shout at the rain to stop so I could talk to the owner of the store and my
driver. Obviously, it did not stop. I used my mother’s phone hoping that her signal was better than
mine. First, I called Miss Idia and unfortunately, she did not answer the phone - maybe because
she thought I was pranking her. I then dialed the phone number of the driver and suddenly he
answered.

“Hello ma’am? Can you hear me clearly now ma’am?” he asked.

I still could not hear him clearly so I just talked to him on the phone slowly if he could hear me
well.

“Hello, Manny, if you can hear me now clearly, please say Ma’am Mae.” I commanded.
Unfortunately, he hanged up the phone. It was still raining, and I do not have any idea on what
I’m going to do, so I just texted Manny and Miss Idia.

Conversation via text message:

Me and Manny’s Conversation through Text Message:

Me: Manny my I have a low signal due to the rain and our roof is so noisy because the rain is so
loud. I did not understand you a while ago so I just called Miss Idia, but suddenly she thought I
was pranking her maybe because she cannot hear me well. If you got this message now, please go
inside the Surplus store and find Miss Idia and tell her that you are my pick-up driver for my 2 nd
hand Sofa Bed.

(After 5 minutes, Many texted)

Manny: Ma’am Mae, yes, I just received your text message, I am now walking through the
surplus store. It is raining hard. Sorry my signal here is kind of low and my phone’s battery is
low, please just message the owner so I could get there soon.

-End of Conversation-

I am glad that he received my message but not that quick because the rain affected my signal.
After I read Manny’s message, I quickly texted Miss Idia.

Me and Miss Idia’s Conversation through Text Message:

Me: Miss Idia, I am Mae, the one who bought the 2 nd hand sofa bed. I was also the one who
called you a while ago. Sorry if my signal is too slow. It is raining hard here in my place that is
why it is noisy, and it affects my signal too. Please allow my pick-up driver, Manny, to pick-up my
sofa bed.
(After ten minutes)

Miss Idia: Oh, sorry about that, I thought you were pranking me. Yes, Manny is already here,
your sofa bed is ready to put in the car. Manny already paid the bill. Thank you for informing me
Mae.

Me: Thank you so much Miss, sorry again for the inconvenience. Please tell Manny to take his
time driving.

Miss Idia: Sure, Thank you too.

-End of the Conversation-

I got to talk to Miss Idia quickly, but because of the rain, I received their text messages late, but
our conversation went well after texting. I realized that signal is bad during rainy season, so it
became a barrier in people’s conversation. So, as our conversation ended, I waited for Manny.
Around 2:20 pm, he successfully arrived here in our house. Gladly, the rain stopped before
Manny reached our house, so we easily picked up the sofa bed from the car and put in my
mother’s room.

My mother was very happy with her new sofa bed and started to vacuum it so we can use it that
night.