Pedestrian Crossing

I got a car ride this morning from a good neighbor. This has been this way since Monday and I am a little relieved from the everyday hassle of taking a ride on a jeep and bus especially that this week seems to be a rainy week. So this is the convenience of having a car.

On our way to the office, we passed along the Global City in Fort Bonifacio. The area is really an upscale community. High rise condominiums, well-paved roads, well-kept greens and multi-cultural residents characterized the entire place. This is what posh living is. It’s around 6:45 AM and it’s a regular thing to see runners. We were passing by the Pacific Star building and 20 meters away I could see a foreign national clad in running gear talking over his mobile phone. He’s going to cross the street.

I could see that he was on a pedestrian lane and I know for a fact that vehicles should always give the pedestrian the right of way. Unfortunately the car ahead of us did not stop to wait for him to cross the lane and so was the car I am riding in. As we passed by him, I saw him gesturing that he was on a pedestrian lane but it was too late. We continued to move on.

I told my building mate what the foreign national was gesturing. “He’s so stupid. He could not decide whether to cross the street or not and he’s too busy with his call.” My building mate said. I fell silent.

I know that the pedestrian has always the right of way. If I were the driver I would have given the foreign national this right. I feel disappointed with my building mate for what he has done. However, he could have his own reason for not doing so. I just thought that maybe in that situation, the driver did just what is right because of the indecisiveness of the pedestrian.

This is always the dilemma concerning human rights. We know our freedoms but sometimes we fell short of understanding them. We used to exert them over others without realizing that we sometimes violated others rights also. I think it is not just knowing our rights but we must also know how to be responsible in exercising them.

The pedestrian could have well known his right of way but his indecisiveness because of the call he is making is very irresponsible. He is not only risking himself but also risking others too. He should have stopped on the side of the street and finish his call to avoid any doubts both from him and the driver.

Rights are not for individuals alone. They are for the collective since we live in a society or a community.

Ticket Switching

My early morning ride would always be a fast one considering that it would only be from Boni Avenue to Guadalupe. There’s no traffic to reckon with and buses are usually less occupied. However, this is the time and situation that opportunistic bus conductors would try their wares to fool their passengers, and I am not ignorant to not be able to notice it.

The bus conductor of JoannaJesh gave us our tickets when we were about to get off. “Give me new tickets.” I asked the conductor. “Those are new.” He said. “How could these be new ones if these are folded already and you did not tear them off from your stub?” I told him. “Those are new. They were just returned by the passengers who got off.” He claimed. “That’s why I need new ones because these tickets have been used already.” I asserted. The conductor was already pissed off and so am I and the passengers who wanted to get off the bus.

“Give me the new tickets now!” I ordered to the bus conductor. He looked at me. He was very mad. I knew I have blown his modus operandi. He murmured and threw the old tickets and fumbled on the ticket stub and tore off two new tickets. I heard him curse. “Don’t curse! You’ve been doing this to your passengers. Do the right thing!” I told him.

I got off from the bus with the conductor still cursing. I just looked at him satisfied that I have somehow thwarted his attempt. I really don’t know how many bus conductors are doing this and how many passengers they fooled everyday. I have experienced this so many times already but this is the first time the conductor aggressively defended himself. I believe I was right in asserting myself.

How many times I let this pass but every time I did I feel awful. I feel that I have consented with the wrong doing. I know that this is just a small matter but I believe that all great things start from small ones. That thought "culture of corruption" always lingers on my mind whenever I experienced such situation in unexpected places of this country, and I hate it.