What not to do at wakes

I was at a wake recently.

It wasn’t my first, but it did bring back all of these superstitious beliefs that Filipinos observe.

Bawal maghatid. Relatives of the deceased should not show you the door or walk with you to your car. It has something to do with bad luck or ill fortune.

Next, no take-home or take-outs. Should you choose to eat what’s offered, eat up. Don’t bring any of it home. Actually, don’t bring anything from a wake to your house.

I remember that when I was still working at a local daily, my friend and I would actually look forward to getting some coffee at a wake. Since we’d get to the wake after work (which was about midnight or one in the morning), this was hardly surprising. Except that we’d usually encounter 3-in-one coffee – which is easier to serve – so we would end up at a coffee shop after the funeral parlor just so we could get coffee the way we liked it, which was black.

Which brings me to the last one I know. Do not go straight home after attending a wake. Make a detour so you can dump all that morbidity and supposed ill luck somewhere else.

When we buried my father, my mother insisted that we stop for lunch at a restaurant before going home. It had to be Vienna Kaffeehaus, one of my favorite eating places in Cebu. Now, I will never look at it the same way again.

Also I can't help but think that if an eating place folds up, it must be because of all that bad luck left by people coming from a wake or a burial.