Hodgepodge of experiences - unnerving, disconcerting

I don't exactly like having to refer to her as the village or town idiot but this lady was often referred to in our town as "Luz buang". She was tall and lean, she could have been a model. She had nice features and straight salt and pepper hair. Sometimes I'd catch her walking languidly, humming or singing to herself. One reason I heard explaining why she became deranged was her having been abused/raped by someone. A Japanese? I now forget.

I tried to avoid her because one never knows which end of the stick one would get from people like her so though I had never seen her in a violent fit, I subscribed to the dictum "Better to be safe than sorry". Anyway...

When I was in grade and high school, I'd sometimes join Mama when she walked to church for the 5:30 a.m. mass. When I didn't wake up early enough, I'd just follow as soon as I was ready. It must have been in high school when this incident happened because though I had been wearing glasses since Grade 3, that one particular morning, I didn't. So I couldn't find Mama when I got to church. True, she was always in her San Antonio brown dress but so were some others. The church in our town was huge and long and I was late, so I simply sat in one of the pews a few rows after where we'd normally sit. As I prayed, I felt someone tapping my shoulder. When I turned, it was Luz buang. She said, in the vernacular, "your mama is there." I didn't scream, I meekly nodded even if I was unsure if it was really Mama she was pointing to because I couldn't really see. whew...

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A few years ago, I was confined for surgery. One morning, bleary eyed, having just woken from sleep, I saw a black veiled woman beside me. Now black-veiled women remind me of the witch in fairy tales. Think Snow White's witch. I nearly screamed -- who are you and what are you doing here? But before I could, I realized she was a Muslim intern, clad in the traditional veil and gown of the Muslims in Greenhills. She asked me a few questions and I answered her. Actually, what I wanted to do was ask her questions too, but Muslims really scare me. The fear began years ago when Mama and I watched Zamboanga starring Susan Roces and Fernando Poe. FPJ was forever fighting Muslims especially the juramentados. A few days after that first encounter with the Muslim intern, I saw her again and had the same fearful reaction, but I caught myself earlier than before.

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Years ago too, we were in Greenhills, near the entrance of Virra Mall. We had just bought squid balls and were eating it near the kiosk where we got it. Suddenly, there were three or four Muslims shouting at a hapless security guard and punching him silly. I tugged at my husband's shirt to tell him we should move away but being the typical male, he watched on. I tugged harder and so we left. Later we found out that the security guard had asked one Muslim to move aside somewhere. The said Muslim threatened the guard he'd get his friends to get back at the guard. He kept good his word. Scary.....

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Note that I don't hate Muslims. But I must admit they scare me. I hope that's different? Besides, I think the Muslim intern/resident of the hospital should have been garbed like all the other interns/residents, or is there something in the religion that stipulates otherwise? Also, I have a student who married a Muslim and we're fine. So there. Just want to be clear on that. I don't want to pick any fights here or to be charged as being something-phobic.