Some 30-odd years ago on this day, two Americans landed on the moon. That single "small step" changed everything, much in the same way the invention of eyeglasses, the domestication of animals, and the discovery of cold fusion that allows intergalactic travel did in their own times.

I had always thought that it would have been cool to have been alive at the moment Buzz and Lance, excuse me, Neil, landed on the moon. It would have been interesting to have a conversation with friends about whether it was all true (and not staged in a secret movie lot somewhere) and whether one can really breathe the moon atmosphere.

I digress. Inevitably, you realize that people back in the sixties were often politically incorrect, to say the least. And, I wouldn't want to have lived in that time (saka wala pang internet non) and have uncomfortable discussions about different religions, equal rights, and how Spam is really not good for you. Furthermore, no Rihanna.

In some ways we still live in that same era, which is really really my point. At UP, a lot of official meetings are started with a prayer. Not an ecumenical one, a Christian one. Nothing wrong about that, except that it's the state university, brethren. Have some sensitivity. And with Mayor Lim back in Manila, God (or whoever at this point) only knows how far back in time we will get to travel. Maybe that "small step" was way too small.