The Workout called Commuting

Since I take four rides to work, I have to make sure that my going to work serves other purposes as well. I usually take a trip to the gym.  I do my cardio, work on some equipment. Yes, the effort is there to lose some weight. I intend to keep my butt size to average since I take jeepneys a lot (Read Upong Piso). In the process of going to the gym , I think I become more agile, flexible and faster.These are what Super-Commuters should possess in times of rushhours. Most of the time, I manage to get a seat and sometimes not. There is a rush in me when jostling happens; I forget some jeepney or bus manners when I'm pressed for time. I MUST TAKE THE BUS NOW! It's like the game, Trip to Jerusalem, where players look for seats, and the unfortunate and sluggish player leaves the game. Fun! Fun! Fun! No, not all the time. In the real life Bus Trip to Destination game, you either (a) leave or take another bus, (b) stand throughout the trip, or (c) squeeze yourself into whatever space left. These are realities experienced by most Manila Commuters. Now, we're just warming up.

For our cardio, athletics comes in. Imagine running after a bus or jeep along a NO LOADING Zone. Track and Field you call it. If we miss our ride, a training in walkathon would come in handy. The required twenty minutes a day to keep a healthy heart is observed by most commuters. We probably would not die of heartattack, but we certainly are candidates for lung problems.

As for the workout, we do a lot of free weights coupled  with cardio. Backpacks, document folders, plastic and papers bags constitute the weights; we carry these as we go about our business around town. We don't have to enroll in a gym to experience sauna or steam as heat-producing places abound for commuters. Nothing beats  natural heat.

Our cool down is that short tricycle ride to our house or that short walk that leads us closer to the welcoming embrace of our family. It is only then we give out our biggest sigh of relief on our commuter workout, and start anew on another workout waiting for us at home. Sigh.

Fare

If I had chosen to work in a school in Makati, I would be spending around P 200++ a day on fare and food. I realized that a day's food and fare allowance in Makati would be able to pay for a whole year's education of one student in this school I'm teaching in, and yet some of my students wouldn't easily be able to shell out that much come enrollment. I teach in this mission-driven school inside a posh subdivision in the southern Manila area. Some students of mine are children of househelps, or househelps themselves. Some are working students while others are children of regular Filipino families who desire a good yet inexpensive secondary education.

Since the school is in this posh village, commuters can only take the recognized jeeps made for village transport. On my way to work one day, I happened to take the jeep with my student. Our small talk began.

"Bakit ka absent kahapon?"

"Nagkaproblema, sir, sa bahay ng amo ko," he respectfully replied.

"Ahh...ok." I did not want the talk to continue as I sensed it was not supposed to be discussed with me.

"Ninakawan po kasi yung bahay. Inimbistagahan ako ng mga security." He continued, "Wala naman ako palagi sa bahay. Kasama ko amo ko palagi."

I listened to his story although my eyes were fixed on the road ,and without me noticing, he was handing P 14.00 to the driver. "Dalawa po 'yan."

There was something wrong there. I hurriedly looked for my purse and gave him the same amount. He refused. I didn't push it since I felt he had sincere intentions on paying for the both us. But I planned to pay for the both of us, too. It's in one of my jeepney fare treat rules (see 1.2. below). I felt bad and thought of the extra seven pesos he had to spend on me.

This got me thinking as to what dictates paying for someone else's fare? I have my own guidelines as to when one can shoulder someone else's fare.

1. Relationships
1.1. A boyfriend to a girlfriend
1.2. A teacher to a student
1.3. A parent to minor children
1.4. An older and wealthier family member to a less-fortunate relative
1.5. A boss to a subordinate
1.6. A husband to his wife
1.7. A working adult child to his/her parents or grandparents
1.8. A richer friend to his/her poorer friends
1.9. An ordinary person to a bloodsucking free loader
1.10. An eager friend to a long-lost friend
1.11. A pretentious person to people who believe that the person is moneyed
1.12. A former student to his/her retired teacher
1.13. A boy to a girl whom he is courting
1.14. A genuinely good person to others

2. Conditions
2.1. It's one's first pay check or payday.
2.2. One has extra cash.
2.3. It's a favor being returned.
2.4. It's culture.
2.5. There's only one person to pay for.

The list can vary from person to person. Treating one for fare is still subject to certain conditions.

I explicitly did not include to write worker to a co-worker, although this is a practice of many, because it is not to happen while I'm in my present department. A senior member of the department during the early days of my commuting to school said, "Sir, kanya-kanya tayo dito ah." Huh? Like I would ask anything from her. I have seven pesos in my wallet noh! That was one of the very few exchanges I had with her. I plan to keep it that way.  She is so not like my student whose gesture will be rewarded in heaven, but while here on earth , he will be rewarded as I think of him when I work on the conduct grades. God bless him!

Pollution

Proceed with caution. Dirty graphic content in this post.

Back home in Mindanao when we were younger, we would illustrate the seriousness of the pollution problem in Manila by saying this, "You would know you're in Manila when you pick your nose and then you'd see that your fingertip is all black," and then we would check our respective noses to examine the quality of air in Zamboanga. Zamboanga's air quality is still at an acceptable level, my fingertip would say.

Living in Manila, I had to live with pollution every day. There is little protection against pollution when you're out in an open vehicle that is plying the treeless avenues of Manila. I dread taking EDSA, one of Metro Manila's main thoroughfares. I don't need a 'pick-my-nose' meter to gauge the gravity of the air pollution problem of Manila; sometimes, my oily face does that. (You may stop reading if you find this post repulsive; there is more to say) To add further harm, I usually catch colds after. If you would tell me to avoid EDSA, I would answer "I can't. I couldn't!" All the great malls are along it. hehe. Here in the south of Manila, I can say that it is not as bad, but I wouldn't know until when. Typhoons and other not-so-friendly weather disturbances keep on uprooting the remaining trees in the area, and EDSA is extending all the way to the south with the skyway extensions being built around.

So what do I do?

Call me stubborn, but I wouldn't be caught wearing a (surgical) mask or anything similar outside even if my life were to depend on it. Take a closed vehicle? Oh, sure I would any time of the day, but my bank account would not permit me. Much to my dismay, I could not think of a solution to this pollution problem facing my tribe. My health is important to me. For now, I'd like to think those tablets called vitamin C are doing their job.

As for my "pick-my-nose" meter, I have long established its reliability after staying here in Manila for many years. In fact, I have retired this process and put my fingers to other worthy causes. Now, my laundrywoman gets the same air quality readings as I do. The black dots on my white handkerchief give away everything. She tells me "Kadiri na ano?" She says it all.

Manila's pollution problems shouldn't just be the concern of a particular group of people. It's everybody's. Even the likes of my laundrywoman are also affected; they attribute their longer washing hours to their trying to take out the dirt on countless collars and sleeves and handkerchiefs!


There really shouldn't be any disgusting posts like this one.