I was on my way to the office today riding the jeepney. One of the passengers paid P100 for two and their route was Doña Juana to Santolan. The lady who paid was middle-aged and was busy texting. The driver had an assistant who was taking the fares and giving the change. When he got the lady’s money he asked the driver how much the lady’s fare was. Since the driver was busy, the assistant already counted out the change. He charged the lady P8/person. Before the assistant gave the change, the driver told him it was just P7 but the assistant thought he could get away charging additional P1 to the lady. When the lady got her change, she counted it and then asked sarcastically if the fare had already increased. The assistant was forced to give her additional P2. It reminded me of another instant last week. Tita Noemi and I rode the jeepney bound for Antipolo. She paid for both our fares. The conducter charged her P12 for her fare but she knew that it was only P10. So she called the attention of the conducter and he was forced to give her the exact change. I asked her how sure she was that it was only P10 based from previous experience and the conducter would not have given back the P2 if he were in the right. I guess some people would cheat just to see if they could get away with it or is it because of povert?
Passenger Talesstories about my experiences as a traveler and passenger
