Rush hour

Today you leave the house minutes after your usual time. You pray that a jeep welcomes you as you head to the street. But there is none. Then, suddenly there is, but a filled one. You glance at your watch and it says twenty-five minutes until reporting time. You begin to panic as you cannot afford to be late. Just as you are contemplating on taking a cab, an almost empty jeep makes its way for you. You hop on it and give a sigh of relief. The jeep suddenly takes a u-turn for the nearest gas station. You tell yourself  "this will just take a few minutes."The driver fills his tank, and gets the jeep back to its lane. He now stops at every sight of a  possible passenger.  Passengers take their sweet time to get on the jeep. The driver sees there are three more seats left. He makes the long stretch his loading area; at every intersection and corner he stops. You begin to be annoyed and  create a list of invectives in your head. "This cannot be happening," you tell yourself. You are looking for coins in your wallet to pay the remaining seats when all of a sudden the jeep stops.  A cop asks the driver to pull over. You are now made aware of the time because your boss is calling you on the phone.

I'll end the story there.

This has happened to me a lot times.What I don't like about it is the pressure and stress these experiences give me.  To start a day with a stressful morning makes one cranky and irritated the whole day.

The list of bad experiences doesn't end there.

Have you ever experienced getting off the jeep because the driver requests you to transfer because the driver claims to have had a flat tire or some other reasons which are incomprehensible to a passenger who just wants to get to his/her destination?  Ok, a flat tire is understandable, but when you see that the driver simply doesn't want to drive all the way to the end because of the heavy traffic or rain, you would feel duped!

Pretty much like the traffic in Manila streets

Alright, I'll stop here. Recalling all  those irks me already. I'll think of a happier post next time.

The roads aren't the same once they hold a sale.

Commuters blog!/Commuters' blog

When I attempted to start blogging a year ago, I thought of numerous topics to write about. It turned out that I'd be writing about commuting. It's not the most novel and interesting idea in the world, but it certainly was a topic I could write about. But it took friends (Rosa and Noy) and a need for creative expression to fuel my interest in blogging once more; this just happened last month, July 2010.Come to think of it I started my blogger account last year. I'm now on my first month of serious blogging. I'm happy, so far. I just hope I won't succumb to an early blog death like how most Filipinos are with activities they initially do with much gusto. But I am optimistic about blogging about commuting since I don't see myself buying a car in the next months and even years, unless I make good at the lottery which I don't bet in.

In so far as commuting is concerned, I found posts by friends who talked of topics related to this blog. Click on them  ( Hello World! and  A matter of perspective ) to read their interesting posts. People like us will always have to say something about commuting, although not necessarily on a regular basis. There is always something interesting happening, and many not-so-interesting happenings that are still worth telling. I suppose you, too, have a story or two to tell.

I have to admit, though, that  I don't intend to commute all my life. To have a car is one thing I aspire for. And every now and then I check for car promos, ads and brochures because I would like to know the possibility of owning one. Just this weekend, in the Sunday issue of a daily, I browsed through the car section for cars and their prices, and they talked to me; they said " We are afraid you can't own one yet." Duh? Like I didn't know that! hehe.  I was doing some quick math. I realized I have to be earning at least twice as much as what I'm earning now to get a car  loan and still live on a slightly simpler but mobile lifestyle. In my line of work I am not going to get that much. The choice to be in  the 'education' sector is mine, thus, the salary, but I'm happy. My happiness is of utmost consideration in anything I do. But then again, I'd be extra happy to be driving my own car. This 'extra happy' stage will not be very soon, I know. The good Lord will give me one or two or three in due time. :-)

Student Discount

One ordinary day, on my way to work, I handed the driver my ten-peso-coin fare for a short-distance trip. He gave me a five-peso coin and asked me to give him one peso. My numerical incompetence couldn't quickly comprehend the transaction going on then; all I wanted was my three-peso change. I may be Mathematically-challenged, but I'm certainly not disobedient. So, I placed the one-peso coin in his hand, and after some time, I tried putting to practice whatever Algebraic knowledge I had to figure out what had just transpired. When the 'eureka' moment arrived, I simply smiled - he must have thought I was a student! Oh yeah, I just shaved this morning I told myself. I must shave often! I was thrilled at the thought that at my age, 26, I was mistaken for a student, hence, the discount! The joy experienced seemed to have overshadowed the 'right thing to do' which is to say "Hey, Mr Driver, here is my one peso. I'm giving this back since you gave me the wrong change." But nothing like that happened. Did I feel guilty? Surprisingly , no. I realized what immense joy one peso could do to a person. This experience kept me smiling the whole day!