To view or not to view

One of the great things about living in a 38th-floor condo is having a view that encompasses EDSA, Makati, Mandaluyong, San Juan, and Quezon City, and on good days, even Manila Bay.

Unfortunately, it also gives you clear view of the smogline that biscets the scene all the way across, hovering just above the tops of the mid-rise buildings.


Sure, you're so high up, that you're not partaking of that muck.

But then, you also know that once you step out of the elevator onto the ground floor, you're already breathing into that thick, ugly layer of gray.

Some months back, a cousin was in town with her American husband, a scientist (microbiologist, I think) who now works in public policy. Over lunch he talked about steps Washington was taking to battle global warming. Wow, I thought, I hadn't heard that term since grade school -- along with terms like "ozone layer" and "CFC" (learning about which, back then, made me throw away my can of hair spray).

Further, during the last Academy Awards, when Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth won the Oscar for Best Documentary, I realized what a huge deal it was.

So why don't we hear about it much? No, I'm not about to launch into some political or environmental commentary -- but suffice it to say, as long as our politicians continue to bicker about power and personal gain, we'll be turning a blind eye to 38th-floor views that are staring us right in the face.