The mercury retrograde started again today, and the first casualty is a bar we grew to love.

As the lockdown continues to wreak havoc in many aspects of our lives, small businesses that capitalize on human interaction bear its brunt.

For a few months now, we have remained physically apart, locked up in our empty rooms so as not to catch the virus. But for many young people, their “safe space” over the years has been a place outside their homes.

In Cubao, Today X Future (TxF) is that safe space. More than just a go-to bar during Saturday nights, it has been a community of and for the woke, where we can be in our most fragile selves yet without any judgement from our peers.

More than just a go-to bar during Saturday nights, it has been a community of and for the woke, where we can be in our most fragile selves yet without any judgement from our peers.

People in TxF don’t just drink and dance, they congregate and commune for worthy causes. More than the booze, Future offers experience.

There is a particular subculture that is distinctly TxF. People drink in the roadside, sometimes under the rain, and it’s perfectly fine. People dressed up for Halloween, took selfies in the famous mirror, and kissed on the dance floor.

There’s quite a lot of memories. I have spent a lot of my Saturday nights here. I met a lot of people and cultivated friendships here. Some of my peers’ social life has been built within and around TxF.

For a generation who grew up in social media, it’s refreshing to still have a physical community where we can express our thoughts beyond our tweets and timelines, where we can converge to see each other beyond our screens.

That’s why TxF’s closing has opened the floodgates of emotions, which has been hard to process amidst this painful times. We have seen it coming, but we are still in denial.

At the bottom of our hearts, we still believe that one day, once the pandemic is over, we will all go back and congregate in that small bar in Cubao.

Maybe not today. But sometime in the future.

About the Author:

Jervis Manahan is a reporter of ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs. He is also teaching broadcast media courses at the Department of Media and Communication, Trinity University of Asia.

He is also an advocate of press freedom and media literacy. Outside work, he goes on outdoor adventures with the Travel Factor group. He has also written theatre plays for Short and Sweet Manila.