Luisa and I were waiting for a jeepney to ride. There were many passengers also vying for seats in the jeepneys so when I saw the empty seats in front of the jeepney, I hurriedly pointed it to Lui and we were able to get the seats. Others were trying to get into the back. Usually, I don’t like riding in front but I knew that we could not let the opportunity pass. Since Lui would have to get off first, I was the one seated beside the driver. I took out my P100 to pay both our fares. The driver asked if we had change but I told him no. Lui was trying to give me her share of P7 but I told her to keep it. When the driver asked us again if we had change, I persisted with my negative answer. He was reallyt trying make us produce a smaller amount but I did not give in. Actually, I had change but if I gave it to him, I’d have a hard time later. Finally, I saw the driver take out a wad of bills from his pocket. It turned out that he had change for my P100. Sometimes drivers and passengers bluff each other when it comes to paying or getting the fare. In truth, I felt a little guilty lying to the driver but it turned out he was lying to me too. I guess we were both lying to each other and he gave in first.
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?
I was riding a public utility vehicle last week and I noticed the person across from me had marks from pimples. I guess he suffered from acne (although he was dressed as a she) during his adolescence. I can tell because of the marks. Maybe he did not have access to a natural acne treatment or even synthetic ones. It’s very expensive to remove pimple scars, especially those that make your face look like potholes have been etched into it.
Posted by admin | Posted in Jeepney | Posted on 30-03-2010
1.) Hold-uppers – I’m sure jeepney drivers hate hold-uppers because they these people threaten the drivers at gun point and rob them of their hard-earned money. Sometimes drivers not only lose their earnings for the day to these criminals but also their lives.
2.) Corrupt police, traffic enforcers, Citos, MMDAs etc. – I would have put these people in number one but at least they don’t kill the drivers ( I think). Drivers hate these people in general because they prevent drivers from breaking traffic rules and regulations. It’s a cat and mouse thing, in a neutral setting, neither is good or bad, it’s just the way it is. Drivers want to get as many passengers and do as many rounds as possible to have more money. Sometimes they break the rules to get ahead. Police and traffice enforcers are there for the safety of both drivers and passengers that is why they monitor and call the attention of the erring drivers. Both have important roles to play in society. Nevertheless, there are police officers and traffic enforcers who are always on the look-out for erring drivers in order to get fast cash. Instead of giving tickets to the drivers, they are open to or demand bribes. During peak seasons, some enforcers just make up charges or make a big deal out of minor infractions just to get some money. I heard that P500 is now the minimum payout or maybe that’s just for private vehicles. Although in many cases, drivers rather pay bribes than having to go and get their driver’s license from the LTO and waste a day’s pay or earning. So corruption in this case is a two-way street. As they say in economics, there can be no market if there are no buyers or sellers.
3.) Unofficial Barkers – I just noticed that there has been a proliferation of barkers. Almost all street corners or places where passengers converge have them. Some of these barkers are not really needed. They just want to make fast cash off the drivers.
4.) Non-paying Passengers – These people take advantage of the fact that it is hard for drivers to track passengers who have paid or not. They want a free ride. Earlier, there was a student who did not pay for his ride. His other classmates paid and they were urging him teasingly to pay his fare but he did not. He just got off the jeepney with his friends shrugging off their advise.
5.) Undisciplined Passengers – These are passengers who want to get off where they want to without regard for the proper loading and unloading zones. Or those passengers who sit like they own the jeepney or bus without regard for their fellow passengers. So why would a jeepney driver dislike such a passenger when they usually just affect their co-passengers? Well, a driver could lose a prospective passenger because a person does not make room for another person.
I don’t know if this is really what driver’s think but these are based from my observations. People may agree or disagree with the ranking or any or all of the five things but I believe that my observations have merit.
It has been more than a week already since I got pickpocketed. What a way to start a week! Kuya Alvin was not able to use his car because of color-coding so I had to commute to the office. I was hurrying to catch our official service in Katipunan. While getting on the jeepney in Ligaya, I felt something or maybe it was my instinct that made me put my knapsack in front of me. But I saw that the front pocket was already open. When I was able to sit down, I checked my bag for my coin purse, which I usually put there. I was glad when I saw that it was still there. This happened very fast. Unfortunately, I was five minutes late so I was not able to ride our service. When I got to the office, I told my friends about my experience and how nothing was taken. The next night I passed by Mercury Drug to buy medicine. The salesman asked me if I had a Suki card. I searched the front pocket of my knapsack for my cardholder but I couldn’t find it. I told the salesman that I must have left it at home. It was a few more seconds before it sank in that maybe that was what the pickpocketer took from my bag. All the way home I was still hopefull that I left it at home but at the back of my mind I knew that I did not take it out my bag the whole weekend. When I got home, I checked out the places where I may have put my cardholder but I could not find it. Not only did I lose my Suki Card but also 2 atms, a credit card, GSIS and health cards, voter’s, alumni and old school IDs, SM advantage and Bench card. I also lost some business cards of people I want to get in touch with. Now, I wish that the pickpocketer got my coin purse instead, which only held around a hundred pesos, than all my cards, which are very hard and not to mention expensive to replace. This was the second time that this happened to me this year. The first time was inside the MRT where my coin purse was lifted. I was using the same knapsack and the purse was also in the front pocket. The money was less than Php100 but my coin purse was inexpensive but new. I guess I must have gotten less attentive since arriving from Korea, where we were not very careful about our things. Now, I have retired my knapsack for the time being and using another knapsack. I no longer put my coin purse in the front pocket. As for my cards, I’m still in the process of replacing them.
Earlier, it was my misfortune to ride a jeepney with a hotheaded driver. My first inkling of his temperament was when he turned left and encountered a fellow driver who was competing with him for passengers. They called each other “Buaya” (crocodile) and it was not a sweet name-calling mind you. They encountered each other twice more during that 20 minute ride with two more name-calling incidents. Then he got angry with a trash collector boy who was driving a sidecar because the boy muttered something while waiting for our jeepney to move. He shouted something but I don’t think the boy in the sidecar heard him. As we neared the intersection of Amang Rodriguez and Marcos Highway, the driver stopped the jeepney and made a hand signal to the boy. I was muttering to myself because I was already running late. He started the jeepney and moved a little bit forward before stopping again. I think he was waiting for the other jeepney driver, his nemesis. Call me a coward but I so abhor confrontations. I suddenly got off the jeepney and crossed using the footbridge to the other side instead of waiting for him to go round the U-turn slot and getting off on the other side of Marcos Highway. Before reaching the footbridge I turned to look and saw that the other driver did not stop for a confrontation. I think I got off the jeepney prematurely for nothing but I’d rather err on the side of caution.
Last Friday when I got in the jeepney I saw the jeepney driver hand P2 change to the passenger and heard him ask her if she had P.50 since her change should only be P1.50 and not P2. The passenger answered no. She was the only passenger before I came aboard. When I paid the driver I made sure that I gave the exact amount. A little while later we passed by a market where three women boarded. These three women were together and when they paid their fare, one of the women told the driver, “Ma, tawad na lang ang singkwenta ha.” The driver just smiled. Then the woman proceeded to tell her companion about her encounter with one jeepney driver who really insisted that a passenger pay the lacking P.50. Another woman boarded the jeepney a little later and I saw her pay the driver just P8.00. I guess for that journey, the driver lost P1.50 from his earnings. Good thing the driver was kind and understanding. I guess this was the opposite of the usual story wherein jeepney drivers don’t give the proper change to the passengers.
I was running late again this morning. As usual I left the house at 6:40 instead of 6:30 to ensure that I will be at our meeting place by 7:00am. We have a five minute grace period but it can still be extended if we just text ahead and ask Kuya Alvin to wait for a few more minutes. My trip started well enough. The driver kind of drove fast but unfortunately when we got to Manggahan Bridge the traffic enforcer showed favoritism in lanes. We had to wait for around five minutes before he signaled the cars in the opposite lane to stop. My co-passengers were already complaining. Then it seemed like somebody gets in and out of the jeep every fifty meters or so. Then the driver had to stop for gasoline. People were already complaining loudly. A guy even insulted the driver saying he was so slow before getting off at the gasoline station. We stopped at Caltex the first time but no gasoline boy was available. I’m sure the driver felt how restive his passengers were getting so we exited the gas station without having a refill. I thought he would continue on and just stop for gasoline once he has dispatched all the passengers. So much for that hope. A few meters away we stopped at Shell for gas. Good thing the Shell gas boys were fast. After that the jeepney flew through the highway. When I got to our meeting place I saw one of my office mates walking in front of me and when I got into the FX, we still had to wait for one more. Even though we left our meeting place a little later than usual we still arrived before 7:30 at the office.
Last Thursday I was commuting to work because as I mentioned earlier, Kuya Alvin was absent. The jeepney was full to overflowing with two men hanging out the jeepney. One of them was in his sixties. He struck a conversation with the younger man. The older man was talking about a commuting experience. He mentioned that he’s been an on and off taxi driver from 1969 to the early part of the 1990’s. I was not really listening (not very obvious..hehehe) until he said that not many people knew it but there was no Project 5 (not sure how true this is) but there are Projects 1-4 and 6-8 in Quezon City but no Project 5. He even shared a joke about how he was in Cubao and he told one dispatcher that there is a Project 5. Just add Project 2 and 3 to come up with 5. Hehe. As I’ve said a hundred times, you learn something new everyday.
I was reading Oceans of Fire by Christina Feehan in the jeepney earlier this afternoon while waiting for the jeepney to be filled up. It was a hot day and there were no conversations inside while the bored passengers waited. The silence was broken by a very unexpected sound, the squawking and flapping of wings. I was so surprised I almost dropped the book I was reading. Everybody turned to look and saw an old woman trying to calm her agitated brown chicken. Hahaha! When I saw the old woman enter the jeepney I did not notice that she was holding a chicken. While she was calming the chicken I saw that its feet were tide and it was wrapped in thin yellow plastic with its head sticking out. She succeeded in calming the chicken and I didn’t hear anything out of it after that.
