A Passenger to Endure

              My legs are almost numb as I step down from the jeepney. This had all been because of my big fat teenage girl seatmate. She was the last one who rode the fully loaded jeepney and on our way we kept on moving to accommodate her. She kept on pushing her butt so that she could sit properly on such a small space available for her. Her shirt is wet with perspiration and sweat kept falling on her face as she rode the jeepney. I am next to her  that I could feel her wet shirt and my legs get hurt as she keep on inserting herself on the available space.I wanted to complain but I remembered that jeepney is a public vehicle wherein different type of passengers ride. My seatmate is only one of the many insensitive passengers I must endure while having my jeepney ride.

Ride of Colors

            Every jeepney ride is a ride of colors. Colors of the different things the jeepney passed by or colors along with the ride. These are colors I would want to look at or colors that annoys me. It could be the different colors of passengers’ clothing that fascinates me especially when passengers with same clothing colors sit side by side coincidentally. It could be the different colors of establishments the jeepney passed by that are interesting to look at or the different colors of vehicles that annoys me if they are moving slowly on the road. The color of black for smoke is also irritating to look at because it would be unhealthy for us and for the environment. The color of red for traffic lights annoys me the most because it would mean delays in arriving to any destination. Red is also the color I feared the most, the red color for blood that bring forth by the different accidents along the road. These are only some of the different colors I encounter on my jeepney ride.

Free Ride

         Free ride in jeepneys are like Freebies given out to customers. You have benefited for something without cost.

        In riding a jeepney, free ride are sometimes given by drivers to their friends, relatives and co-drivers. Most of the time free ride is given because the driver doesn’t have enough coins as change.  Coins are very important especially in the morning when drivers or "konduktors" haven’t collected yet their passenger's fare. This is where free ride happens. When one passenger pays hundred bills and the driver doesn’t have a change, what the driver will do is to return the bill and charge it as free ride. Some passengers abuse this set-up that they intentionally give higher bills as fare knowing that the driver’s available cash is not enough to change their fare and that the driver would have no choice but to consider it as free ride.

        Free ride should be given as an act of generosity and not because the driver doesn’t have a choice. It is given voluntarily and should be without hesitation but we should also remember that a jeepney ride always entails a fare to be paid by the passenger.

Lunch Pack Bag

            Jeepney is a vehicle for long distance travels and mostly of its passengers belongs to the lowest to middle wage earners. Every morning these jeepney passengers endure long distance travel that most of them do not go home during noon break. That is why some passengers had with them their lunch pack bag.

           These different lunch pack bags varies for each passengers. It could be a paper bag of some branded shoes, dresses, food supplements, or herbalife nutritional products. Others are bags which are freebies of a well known company, mall or department store. Or it could just be a plain lunch pack bag. For a passenger, whatever it is what matters most is that they have an available bag for their lunch pack that they could carry with them wherever they may go. Well, here is another insight from a viewpoint of  a jeepney passenger enjoying her jeepney ride.

Ladies, Beware of this Passengers

As we ride daily in a jeepney, we cannot avoid to encounter some naughty male passengers. They are the ones who would grab the opportunity to rub their arms in the side parts of the body of their co-passenger. It happens especially when the jeepney is full of passengers. Since when you ride in a jeepney you sit side by side with your co-passengers wherein your arms are in between , there would be a chance for some naughty guys to intentionally rub their arms against their co-passengers body especially if it is female. So, ladies to protect ourselves from this type of passenger, always put your arm in between the two of you to hinder his arm to touch your body. If he still insist, raise your arm and simply hit him with your elbow. Make it appear that you hit him accidentally. Well, that's how it goes.

Ride with Patience

My jeepney ride today had been a test of patience. I got to ride in a jeepney where the driver is an old man who’s having a hearing problem and basically doesn't want to drive in a faster speed. Usually when I ride a jeepney, I want to sit at the back of the driver. I like it there because it is the spot where my hair wouldn't be blown away easily and I don't have to move to the left or right to give space to other passengers. The only disadvantage in this spot is when there is no "konduktor" or fare collector, you are obliged to pass the fare fee from the passengers towards the jeepney driver. So I sit on my favorite spot at the back of the old driver who doesn't have a "konduktor". Aside from passing the fare I also have to relay the passenger's route info because the driver can't hear clearly what they are saying. Also, from time to time I am looking at my watch because I am going to be late with the slow speed of the jeepney.Well, it is the slowest ride ever but I ride with patience and arrived at my destination still looking forward for a great day.

Durian Odor

On my way to work, the jeepney I had ride with this morning was full of durian fruits. Durian is very much common in Davao. Some dislikes it for its strong odor but others like it for its delicious taste. It is a fruit that has many spikes on it that it is very much laborious to harvest. Anyways, the jeepney I rode into had been contracted to transport the durian fruits from the farm to the city market and picked up passengers along the way. So,with the jeepney full of smelly durian fruits and half an hour of travel, I arrived at my destination with smelly durian odor and graving for durian fruit. Well, another jeepney ride experience.