01 February 2008
Public insult
You get on a jeep, looking forward to 6 PM. It's Friday. You're in your school uniform and with one look the prefect of discipline would want to adopt you. You hold out your hand and, with utmost sincerity, announce: "Manong, bayad po." The coin reaches the driver... but, seemingly longer than a drunk's orgasm, your change takes a while.
"Manong, student po 'yon," in your respectful self. Yet get a glance back, then silence. "Manong, estudyante 'yung sampung piso," you reinstate, resisting the urge to shoot Manong. Like toys in Jolly Kiddie Meals, the tension makes the other For All I Care passengers turn their heads to your direction. Bewildering, but they see no student there.
---
You ride a jeep to work. It's Friday 8AM, and you want nothing more than getting the week and/or your life over with. You--the ever honest you--scrape the bottom of your pocket for the last coin... Arm stretched and sunglasses filtering the painful sunlight, you give: "Bayad, o." Two more pit stops, then eight-fifty makes it to Manong.
You anticipated the morning traffic, hence the 4-AM bedtime you had last "night," hence the excuse to snore for the rest of the kilometers. Suddenly, a woody finger pokes your left thigh: Before you tackle the source of yucky naughtiness, you see a one-peso coin dangling from more sticks-with-human-nails... You got change. It should be a good thing--but you can't help but wonder. My fare is 8.50. Why am I getting change? Then you begin to interpret the universe:
Hey, maybe they think I'm a student or something. Wow, I really do look young! ... But wait--no--I'm not a kid anymore. I have a college degree and I actually have a job unlike that bastard she replaced me with. I am NOT a little boy! I'm bigger now and I can definitely afford a measly jeep fare! What do these self-righteous blue-collar margins take me for--a weakling who needs discount in fares? Oh I HAVE money to pay their services--maybe even enough to pay twice their daily quotas. I can't believe this is happening... No--I refuse to accept this insensitive racism. Here I am doing my best to be a dignified, responsible citizen... and they treat me like I'm a joke? The nerve! I... I...
---
I can't decide which is more "insulting." Carpool, anyone?
"Manong, student po 'yon," in your respectful self. Yet get a glance back, then silence. "Manong, estudyante 'yung sampung piso," you reinstate, resisting the urge to shoot Manong. Like toys in Jolly Kiddie Meals, the tension makes the other For All I Care passengers turn their heads to your direction. Bewildering, but they see no student there.
---
You ride a jeep to work. It's Friday 8AM, and you want nothing more than getting the week and/or your life over with. You--the ever honest you--scrape the bottom of your pocket for the last coin... Arm stretched and sunglasses filtering the painful sunlight, you give: "Bayad, o." Two more pit stops, then eight-fifty makes it to Manong.
You anticipated the morning traffic, hence the 4-AM bedtime you had last "night," hence the excuse to snore for the rest of the kilometers. Suddenly, a woody finger pokes your left thigh: Before you tackle the source of yucky naughtiness, you see a one-peso coin dangling from more sticks-with-human-nails... You got change. It should be a good thing--but you can't help but wonder. My fare is 8.50. Why am I getting change? Then you begin to interpret the universe:
Hey, maybe they think I'm a student or something. Wow, I really do look young! ... But wait--no--I'm not a kid anymore. I have a college degree and I actually have a job unlike that bastard she replaced me with. I am NOT a little boy! I'm bigger now and I can definitely afford a measly jeep fare! What do these self-righteous blue-collar margins take me for--a weakling who needs discount in fares? Oh I HAVE money to pay their services--maybe even enough to pay twice their daily quotas. I can't believe this is happening... No--I refuse to accept this insensitive racism. Here I am doing my best to be a dignified, responsible citizen... and they treat me like I'm a joke? The nerve! I... I...
---
I can't decide which is more "insulting." Carpool, anyone?
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