Passenger Talesstories about my experiences as a traveler and passenger

I was on my way to Trinoma riding the MRT when I saw the grasshopper riding on the shirt of the lady beside me. The lady had earphones stuck to her ears so I waved at her to call her attention. She gently transferred the grasshopper from her shirt to the train’s wall and then she thanked me. Good thing the lady did not get hysterical because I know some people can get hysterical if an insect is anywhere in their person. I was really surprised to see such insect in the MRT and I wonder how it got there. If I’ve seen a cockroach then that would not be a surprise although I’ve never seen cockroaches in the MRT, only inside buses. A fanciful thought was that maybe the insect was from the nearby Cavite province on its way to Bulacan to visit relatives. I hope it got to its destination safely.

Yesterday, on our way back to the dormitory, we fell to discussing about pimples. Wendy said that she knew somebody who had to take a long leave of absence from the office just to have his acne treated. It must have really been severe indeed. Sometimes the best acne treatment for such cases would be a change in lifestyle. Healthy eating habits and sleeping patterns have to be adopted. Moreover, a less stressful lifestyle should also be followed.

Based on my observations:

Busiest MRT Station: Cubao, I never saw this station empty. There are always snaking lines to the cashiers and multitudes of passengers are either embarking or disembarking to or from the trains. Next to Cubao are the North and Pedro Gil Stations. A friendly tip – when you’re going to Cubao and you have to go back the same way you came, buy two tickets already from your station of origin to avoid falling in line to buy a return ticket in Cubao, unless you have the stored value ticket.

Least Utilized Station: Santolan-Annapolis Station, hardly any passengers there.

Most Inconvenient Station: Ortigas Station, very near the Shaw station and very far from the Ortigas and EDSA intersection, bad planning or politics? Hmmm…I think there was an issue about it before. Can’t remember what it was now…

Most Convenient: Shaw Station of course! This is usually where I embark and disembark so it’s very convenient for me. Hehehe. It’s connected to Shangri-la Mall, Star Mall and that EDSA mall in Crossing (the name escapes me now) and near SM Mega Mall also. Ayala Station is also very convenient. One can say that the Ayala station is the gateway to the Makati business district and the more high-end malls coming from EDSA highway.

When riding the MRT or LRT I get irritated with passengers who lean with their whole body on the vertical handrails, making it difficult to impossible for others to hold on to the rails. There are very few handrails and for people like me who have a hard time reaching the circular things hanging on the horizontal handrails parallel to the seats, vertical rails are the only things that keep me from intimate encounters with the floor whenever the train lurches. Don’t people get it? It’s a handrail and not a backrest or for some, a substitute boyfriend to hug! For the hands my dear…for the hands. I don’t know if these people realize how inconsiderate they are being. Maybe they don’t have any idea because they were not taught at home or in school. Maybe they don’t have any idea that other people are entitled to use the handrails also, that these handrails are public property and not for private use. Whatever it is, maybe I can start educating those I see hogging the handrails like their own private treasure, about the proper etiquette so that they’ll know better. Or maybe I’ll just continue to stew inside whenever I encounter such people. Better yet, why don’t I send this post to DOTC or whatever agency of the government that oversees the MRT and LRTs and they can make a public service commercial to educate commuters on the proper etiquette on riding a train. They can add another reminder “No hogging the handrails” to the “No eating, drinking, and smoking inside the train, No pets allowed in the train, No drunks allowed, etc.”