The Game of Transportation

I ride public transportation almost every single day. I am convinced that transportation in the Philippines is a game. There are very few rules to this game, but a whole lot of surprises and challenges.

The wild cards are the pedestrians and the motorcycles. You never know when one is going to pop out at you from behind a vehicle, a pole, or just simply walk across the road for the fun of it. If you hit one, you do not pass go, you do not collect $100, but you get to have a lovely chat with the police -- not a desirable consequence at all.

The object of the game is to get to your destination by fitting your car like a puzzle piece wherever you think it might fit, or might not fit but you try anyway. The obstacles are the jeeps that stop at the whim of the passengers and if you're not one of the passengers, you get the privilege of nearly ramming into the back of one at the most unexpected moments.

Pedestrians play the game too. Not only are some of them the wild cards, but they must fight against each other, all the while maintaining the necessary cultural reserve and politeness so ingrained into Filipino culture, to get into a jeep. The last jeep in my series of rides to school fills up in a muddy parking lot. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason apparent as to how they choose the next jeep that will fill up. I have learned to approach cautiously, see how many people have already exceeded the maximum capacity requirement listed on the side of the jeep, and then try to read the mind of the guy taking the money as he heads to the next jeep that will fill up. The next jeep could be all the way across the parking lot and there is a huge, but quiet rush of people trying to get on to the next jeep and if you don't have a good idea where the next jeep is, you'll probably end up missing the next 4. It is perfectly acceptable to come from the end of the line to the very front and stick your money into the guy's outstretched arm and hop on board ahead of the other 10 people who already missed the past 4 jeeps. You just have to say, "'Scuse, po" and you get away with it. (I am one of the people who does not do this and therefore misses 4 jeeps in a row.)

Oh and my parents just got back from Kangaroo land, so bye.

Ok I'm back. Where was I... oh yes, the game. Basically the goal is to get to your destination in spite of all the obstacles and challenges. I play the game every day and almost every day something new and funny or weird happens... like the guy who was falling asleep on the jeep and his head kept bobbing. He almost hit the guy next to him because his head kept jerking down. I wanted to laugh because he always jerked awake with a surprised look on his face. Or then there was the ride where the person who packs everyone into the vehicle completely ignores the fact that people come in all shapes and sizes and even if you are the size of at least 2 people, you only count as one person and therefore you still have to squeeze the required amount of 18 passengers in an 11-passenger van which now means that you have the equivalent of 5 or 6 people in the row that is designed only for 3. I guess it's a good thing since it means there's no discrimination...... :P

And that, my friends, is the game of transportation in the Philippines. Tune in next time for the game of street food, also known as how to eat all the good street food without getting sick. Just kidding... I don't eat much street food, except for bananacue.