What could it all mean? Is it a sign from above when an ostrich is spotted running around a gated community? Where did it come from? Who owns it? Better question yet — why does someone own not one — but two ostriches inside a Manila subdivision?
The year 2020 has been several levels of absurdity. It started with an Australian wildfire. Then it escalated into the Taal Volcano eruption. Then now the entire world is on lockdown from the pandemic. It’s like … this isn’t real. It feels like someone is toying with the planet as a huge social experiment. Or a board game. “Welcome to August, the 8th level of Jumanji” someone said online.
An ostrich running in urban Manila is such an absurd sight, we’ll take it. Nothing else can shock us. We’ll take it because it’s really just hilarious. If you want to know how out of context this was for Philippine Internet, here’s a quick look at Google Trends today for the term “ostrich” and you’ll see just how engaged Manila was in this odd phenomenon.
Deep inside, we are all ostriches. We are all flightless birds gazing upwards to the sky, longing to be free from the chains of the pandemic.
