Jeepney Ride

Whatchalookin at?

When you commute on a daily basis, this scene is most probably familiar to you. People rushing, squeezing themselves through to get to work, school or home. The jeepney is an innovation from US Jeeps during the Japanese era which has so permeated  our culture, it is hard to imagine what a city and the entire country will be like without it.

I take it on a daily basis, an exercise of the hoi poloi and the middle class, to get to where I am.  That is a good place to observe the world around you.  And observe, I do a lot.  For example, since living here in Mandurriao, I only managed to ride once a jeepney full capacity, with only male passengers in it; thrice with only women passengers in it excluding the driver and myself.  You might think, this is a rather odd pastime.  I glance around checking the people inside, though not in a weird kind of way.  I'm just thinking: what are they thinking? What do you usually think about when you commute?

During the morning rush hour, do you see people sweating profusely constantly checking their watches and sighing at ever traffic stop? Do you see people catching up on their sleep? Do you see two students, siblings, the younger one sleeping, yakking endlessly or looking sick and ready to vomit?  Do you see people in their house clothes, office uniforms, barongs and business suits? Do you look at their faces?  Do you know their stories?

Are you one to plug-in your earphones and listen to your own choice of music?  Are you one to silently curse at the driver who stops after every few meters to pick up passengers who didn't even bother to wave them down?  Are you one who mentally calculates which seat would receive the most shade throughout the trip? Are you one who looks out the window throughout the trip, consciously or unconsciously ignoring the request to pass the fare to the driver?  Are you one to sleeps towards your destination, desperately extending your slumber on a moving vehicle? 

Perhaps you are one who plays out situations in his head, sometimes irreverently silently mumbling out exchanges like a fool?  Or are you one who doesn't do anything at all, doesn't think about anything at all, just taking the ride like a bag of potatoes with fare?

Are you one like I am?  Watching. Observing.  Playing out the stories of their lives, and perhaps my life, like a bard on the stage, amidst the morning smog and the easy chugging of the engine of the simple and humble jeepney.