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.

Going home, I pass by so many pawnshops. I sometimes wonder how these shops survive when they are in close proximity to each other, like sari-sari stores located one after the other. I read once that the prevalence of pawnshops in an area says something about the poor economic conditions of the area. Well, it is true from what I can see. I guess pawning things can be considered as a form of asset based lending since the amount the pawnshops lend you is based on the asset you pawn as collateral. However, the money you get from pawning should be used wisely and also used to raise enough money so that you can get back the item you pawned. It is just a stop gap measure.

Nowadays, it is no longer about lifetime employment but lifetime learning. People tend to change careers midstream. Knowledge has become a currency and well sought commodity. Nations no longer just aspire to industrialize but to become knowledge economies. With this quest for more knowledge and to improve oneself continuously, more and more people want to earn degrees higher than just baccalaureate degrees. However, it is hard to make time to go to school and physically attend classes because of the demanding work schedule. This is one of the reasons why distance education has found a market. With the advent of the Internet, online education was also born. Anyone can work to get a degree from universities offering programs online. Because of the proliferation of such education institutions it is important to make sure that you are enrolled in an accredited online degree so that you can be sure that these are acceptable to your employers. Moreover, accreditation also gives you an assurance of quality. So be sure to check if the degree you’re applying for online is accredited by recognized accrediting bodies.

Diet products are all the rage nowadays. Everyone, including me, is concerned about losing weight. My mom wanted to lose some and she should but she does not have the discipline to do so. She is going to be a godmother at my cousin’s wedding that is why she wanted shed some pounds. However, she did not diet, or take any diet supplements or exercise so her losing weight just remained a dream. If you want to lose weight by using supplements, searching the web would bombard you with choices. You’ll encounter supplements like ephedra diet pills or something else and you’ll start to wonder what is the difference between all these products. Reviews will come in handy but asking your doctor would be better.

We were watching a shampoo commercial about stopping hair fall when my sister-in-law asked me what the best shampoo for hair loss was. She told me that she was getting worried about finding numerous hairs on her pillow, on the floor when she brushes her hair and the bathroom after washing her hair. I told her I had the same problem. I even consulted a dermatologist once about this and the doctor told me that sometimes it is just a phase and after a few months the hair fall would stop. It must be true because so far I have not gone bald yet and I hope I never do.

I always thought that arthritis was for old people but I had friends who were only in their twenties who started to suffer from it. However, medicines or supplements used as treatment for arthritis usually feature people in their 50s or 60s who miraculously recover their vigor after taking said medicines. There is even a running joke about not taking a certain brand because you’ll be walking backwards after since the old man in the commercial started to walk backwards to show that he recovered from his arthritis already. I guess the diet and sedentary lifestyle of people nowadays lead to increase in the number of younger people suffering from arthritis.

My boss has a lot of friends who are nuns because she used to work for a Catholic school. These nuns tell her about the alternative treatments they had and refer her to doctors who specialize in alternative medication. One time she went to a doctor for her throat ailment and another time she visited a doctor who specializes in colon cleanses. There were many patients looking for colon cleanse product that works. She told us about the mixture of vegetables and fruits that the doctor prescribed that she should drink. These should be blended together and drink the juice. She told us she was surprised that the drink tasted good although you would imagine that it would taste awful.

There are really acne treatment creams that are very effective in fighting pimples. My brother’s fiancée suffered acne attack when she went to Singapore to work. After consultations with her dermatologist, her face is almost back to normal. Pimples can really be the bane of one’s existence. They itch and are unsightly and can really bring down your beauty points by a notch or two. It is very important to treat them properly so as not leave any scars on the skin. I am sure that it would be smooth by the time their wedding day arrives.

I remembered the secondary character in a Linda Howard book who did hardware restoration of antique furniture for her house who suddenly got a shock of her life her husband decided to surprise her with new interior design for their house on their anniversary. In her fury, she tried to run over her husband with their car, although her intention was just to hurt him a little, not to kill him. Even though the intention was great, the outcome was not desirable since the new interior decoration was the anti-thesis of the wife’s style and all her lovingly restored antiques were sold with no hope of her getting them back. Sometimes we do things out of love but it turns out that it’s not what our loved ones need or want. I guess this happens because of we fail to understand each other.

Commuting is really a hassle but there are days when it is more a hassle than usual. Yesterday was that day. An officemate and I decided to take a cab to go to work since there was no service available. On my way to our meeting place, I saw another officemate and asked her if she wanted to join us in the cab to go the office. It seemed that the fact that we could not get a taxi from our meeting place foreshadowed our difficulty in taking a taxi in Libis. When we got off the tricycle, we walked to the corner to wait for a cab. It seemed that all the taxis were taken so we walked futher away from the corner. As we walked we saw an empty cab take a passenger from the corner we left. This happened twice. We walked further along thinking we could get a cab just after Eastwood but it seemed that the taxis coming from Eastwood were already taken and there was a queue in the taxi bay. It took us around 20 minutes waiting before we finally got an empty taxi. The good thing was we were able to beat the bundy clock with a few minutes to spare. Another all is well that ends well story.