Ika 1 ng Hulyo 2008

It's my daughter's birthday today and also my first day at my new school. I'd be handling night classes every Tuesday and Friday. I had to be really, really early at the office because my classes start at 4:30pm....... meaning I have to leave early too.

I woke up as soon as the alarm went off. I texted my daughter to greet her. Then, I checked on the pups and gave them their meal of mashed dog food with milk replacer and changed their sheets. I gave vitamins to the dogs but had to ask my helper to take care of the grooming. Hubby and kids left the house while I was taking a shower. I quickly dressed up and off I went. Still not good enough because it was 7:15am. My target was to leave at 5:45am. I was way off target....Hay.

Unsure about the state of traffic that time because I was used to going to work late mornings, I decided to stick it out with the shuttle service. Besides, aside from a ten-peso coin, I only have P500 and P100 bills in my wallet. I am not about to lose some change again. I arrived at the terminal with a long queue of riders already. I thought this might just take a short time. Thirty minutes passed and still no shuttle service. Bad decision.... I would have been in the office had I taken a bus at Alabang. These vans were coming in trickles just when you need them to be there.....sigh. Too late for alternatives, I accepted the fact that I'll go undertime later. I made used of the time texting and reading my school material. Finally, it was my turn and I took my ride.

I had chosen to take a seat at the first row beside a guy. There was space to my right for another rider. Another guy took the seat. I began imagining the ride between two guys. Some might think I am lucky but I am not savoring the idea. No, they don't smell but I would much rather prefer two sweet smelling ladies.....Yes, ang arte ko (this is a blog I am currently working on). Anyway, pressed by massive bodies on my way to work, I made good use of my time reading my school materials and some office stuff while ensuring that my baggages are not encroaching on my seatmates' spaces. Good thing that the traffic was good and the ride smooth. I reached my destination wiithout knowing it.

I reached the office at 9:02am ready to face my challenges and steal some time to work on some presentation materials for school because I got mixed up with the subject I was supposed to teach today.

PS: Lagi ang nadidiscuss ko yun pagcocommute ko papunta office. Normally kasi pag dating ng uwian pagod na ako na tumingin ng people or pansinin ang traffic. Nadadalas din ang pagsakay ko sa bus na me naka-on ng tv tuwing hapon at dun nababaling ang attention ko. At kahit di ko gusto ang palabas, wala akong magagawa kundi manood at baka makaaway ko yun mga sumusubaybay ng palabas na yun. Naisip ko na paminsan minsan pag me kakaiba o nakakatuwang pangyayari sa hapon, eh pag-usapan na rin.

Kahopon ay kaiba sa kin kasi nagshuttle bus ako. Benefit itong ibinibigay sa mga empleyado ng opisina namin. Paminsan minsan inaavail ko ito gaya kahapon. Mga siga ang sakay ng shuttle bus at parang yun mga regular dun ay nabili na nila ang pwesto nila at halos mamemorize mo na yun lugar na kinaroroonan nila pag nagkakataon sasakay ako. In fainess, first come, first served. Kaya kataka-taka talaga na lagi yun ang pwesto nila. Wala nman written rule na walang palitan ng pwesto. Pero siguro human nature yan na maging consistent sa choices kahit sa pagpili ng uupuan sa shuttle bus. Malaman din very efficient sila at talagang yun pwesto nila sa pila eh yun din palagi. Galing ng sense of timing nila, very accurate. Tapos pag sakay nila parang talagang automatic yun pagkakaayos nila sa loob ng bus. Feeling tuloy ng isang di regular rider, eh alien siya sa shuttle bus.

Kataka-taka rin na ang mga lalaki ay halos nasa likuran at mga tagiliran ng upuan, yun malapit sa bintana. Me unwritten rule kasi na paunahin ang mga babae at syempre mga buntis at differently-abled sa upuan. Pero syempre likas sa tin mga Pinoy ang pagpaplusot. Yun iba pag-upo nakakataka at tulog agad. Siguro kargador ang trabaho nun at pagod na pagod. Yun iba naman parang iniiwasan tumingin sa mga dumarating na babae. Me problema siguro at malalim ang iniisip. Nangyari na sa kin na sumakay ako at napunta na ako sa likod at wala pang tumayong lalaki kaagad. Pagkatapos ng ilang segundong inenjoy ng pwet niya yun upuan, isang lalaki ang parang lulugo lugong binigay sa kin ang upuan niya. Hay talaga naman...... Yun iba talagang di na tumatayo. Sige na nga siguro senior citizen na kasi sila (di ba dapat magretire na pag ganito).

Ang mga ganitong observation ay makikita rin sa mga pampublikong sasaktan. Siguro nga chivalry is dead.