Mira: Hey, Dan! You’re just in time. We’re planning my birthday menu. And of course—pancit is non-negotiable. You know the rule: serve noodles for long life.
Dan: Non-negotiable? Mira, you act like missing pancit for one year will cut your lifespan in half.
Mira: Hindi ah! But it’s tradition. Everyone in my family has pancit on their birthday. My lola turns 92 next month—92! And guess what? She never skips her pancit canton.
Dan: Mira… your lola also walks every morning, drinks salabat like it’s holy water, and scolds people for stressing her out. I’m pretty sure her longevity has nothing to do with glorified stir-fried noodles.
Mira: Still! You don’t mess with a good luck charm. Noodles are long—life is long. It makes sense symbolically.
Dan: Symbolically, yes. Literally? Unless pancit has secret immortal-boosting MSG, I don’t think that works.
Mira: MSG doesn’t add years, but it adds flavor. And happiness contributes to long life, right? Boom. Science.
Dan: That’s not how science works! You can’t just connect random dots. By that logic, because pizza makes me happy, I’ll live to 200.
Mira: Maybe you will, who knows? You never try new things so maybe you’re already preserved.
Dan: Wow. I come here with love and get roasted like a lechon.
Mira: Okay, okay. But seriously—pancit is tradition. You grow up seeing it at every birthday, and it becomes comforting. Why ruin it?
Dan: I’m not saying ruin it. I’m saying understand it. People made that belief a long time ago when life was unpredictable, and they wanted something symbolic to hold onto. Doesn’t mean there’s actual evidence.
Mira: Evidence? My entire family tree is evidence! Whenever someone forgets the pancit, something weird happens.
Dan: Like what?
Mira: Remember my cousin Paolo? He skipped pancit on his 18th birthday. Two days later—boom—sprained ankle.
Dan: Mira… he sprained his ankle because he jumped off the roof pretending to be Spider-Man.
Mira: Still counts!
Dan: No, it does not count! That’s called consequences, not cosmic noodle punishment.
Mira: Okay, but don’t you have any traditions you follow even without scientific proof?
Dan: Hmm… I don’t step on wet floor tiles in public CRs because I believe I’ll end up regretting it. Does that count?
Mira: That’s hygiene, not superstition!
Dan: Fine. I guess I respect traditions. I just don’t think they control the universe.
Mira: Maybe not. But they connect us to family, memories, culture. Pancit is like… edible nostalgia.
Dan: Now that I agree with. Eat pancit because you love it, not because you fear aging five years overnight.
Mira: Okay, okay. I don’t fear aging. I just want to live long enough to see if you actually make it to 200.
Dan: I’ll try, but only if you let me skip the pancit this year.
Mira: Dan! Blasphemy! You will eat the pancit and like it.
Dan: See? This is how cults start.
Mira: It’s not a cult. It’s Filipino culture. Now sit down and help me pick ingredients before I curse you with a sprained ankle.
Dan: Mira… don’t tempt fate. Or gravity.
Science Vs Superstition 
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