Feeling for the lost and confused
Yesterday I watch’d 4 men sitting across looking alert and swiveling their heads left and right in anticipated search for their destination. It’s Father Abraham & his 3 children from faraway. Faraway was immediately assum’d as a look was taken at their dust-cover’d outdated shoes and bulky bags. Tha three sons all had tha same dark skin, straight hair, and slanted eyes, obviously takin’ after their mother rather than the curly-hair’d, wide-eyed, fair skinn’d Father Abraham. I watch’d em wit tha same concentration as they watch’d tha road, waitin’ for em to git off & curious if they really know where they’re going.
Today as I got on tha jeep wit paver, luck had me seated next to an extreme sideway sittin, butt-pointin’, rigid lady in her forties who wuden budge when paver was askin her to move so that her rear had me & paver cramm’d into a very small space in tha jeep’s corner while her fat ass was takin up space fo’ two passengers. Soon, anotha man loaded onto her otha side & ask’d her to do tha same thang, but stil she refus’d to sit facin’ forward like any sane passenger wud do. Then in tha middle of tha ride, she suddenly spoke a stream of fast Chinese words to her seatmate on tha left to which tha seatmate responded by givin’ her directions in Tagalog. Unable to understand Tagalog, she spoke more words in quick frantic Chinese directing it to tha man next to her seatmate [to which he responded in Tagalog] then to tha sleepy old man wit slanting eyes across from us who shook his head no to her. By then, I was laughin’ so hard at ma poor serious Chinese seatmate [whose back was turn’d to me] that I was ‘fraid that she [or her rear] cud feel me shakin’ wit laughter & be offended by my behavior. When I recover’d I ask’d her where she was going in English and wonder’d why no one thought of speakin’ English to her. By then I really start to feel fo’ tha Sharp Rear & I nudg’d paver to ask him to help tha lady out but paver was in his suplado no-talking-in-the-jeep mood & shruggd me off haughtily as he –prolly tha only one in tha jeep who’s not payin attention to tha Chinese Sharp Rear in strict compliance to his weird no-talking-in-the-jeep rule- pretended to be preoccupied with tha streets. We learn’d that tha Sharp Rear was goin’ to Ongpin. At one point, Sharp Rear was about to jump down tha jeep after a student got off but every’un shouted for her to stay in her seat, as we were still far off from her destination. Tis got tha fair-skinnd lady across from us ‘fessin up that she was goin to Ongpin too & that they can git off together. It also turn’d out that Snow White can understand Sharp Rear afterall & even spoke some back to Sharp Rear. After some time, paver barked tha announcement fo’ our payment in his booming voice which no doubt scared nervous Sharp Rear on ma left & set me off to anotha round of laughing again.

Wut got me feeling for the lost and confused
Since Christmas, I’ve been meaning to go to Ali Mall to buy ma’self some sweater I once saw & fell in luv wit. Failin’ to get it after tha Christmas break, I resolv’d to buy it before tha New Year break ended & it’s back to work again. But on tha Sunday I was plannin’ to buy it, Maver diden wake me up like she usually does so we cud go to church in tha morn. Since paver partied at a neighbor’s birthday tha previous night and had but little sleep, she told me that paver & me wud hafta attend tha 4-6pm shift while she & brover attended tha early mass. Thinkin’ she did tis on purpose since she knows I git tha urge to mall-hop on Sundays & prolly thinkin’ that I can’t venture off by ma own at night, I ventured off by ma own soon as me & paver got home & soon as I fetch’d ma bag & wallet to head into tha unknown at 6:30 pm in ma church garb of skirt & feet-hurtin’ sandals. I got on a Cubao jeep, ignored tha rowdy jologs who made jokes ‘bout me bein’ tha other one’s gurlfriend & ask’d tha fare collector beside tha driver how much I shud pay for a trip goin to Ali Mall. Encouraging & helpful as all drivers & driver assistants shud be to passengers who don’t know where they’re headed, tha fare collector responded by not sayin’ anythang at all & lookin’ at me wit a smirk on his face. Good thang tha elderly driver responded. Sometime when tha only passengers left were me, a gurl beside me & a lady across, tha lady held up her bag to show me & tha gurl tha wide slash it had on its side & tha trail of white sugar beside her. Seem’d like tha rowdy jologs slash’d her bag, which only contain’d store-bought sugar & some apples. Tha lady said that she had been keepin’ her mint in her pocket & so tha boys fail’d to catch anythang from her bag but tha sprinklin’ of sugar comin’ loose. Durin’ tha ride, tha constant feelin’ that I have miss’d ma destination kept me to continuously ask tha driver “Ali Mall na ba?” Fin’lly, tha fare collector told me to git off at a Mercury drugstore & told me that walkin’ a few miles more towards tha direction he pointed wud lead me to Ali Mall. Since Rustann’s was tha nearest visible lighted sign in tha night, I went straight for it & tried a few exits before rememberin’ that Ali Mall is right next to SM and started lookin’ out for SM as well. At Ali Mall, I found out that tha sweater was gone & so I consoled ma’self by buyin’ not-as-gorgeous blouse at tha same store which I’m wearin’ fo tha first time today here at work. [ma boss had not yet return’d that’s why am postin ;-)] since I was frustrated in not findin’ tha sweater, I went to SM to buy a bottle of GAP Dream instead but once again I was disappointed & not wantin’ to go home wit juz one purchase, I bought 2 soaps at Rustann’s beauty bar. At quarter to 8, I thought ‘twas time to go home. I walk’d & walk’d till I found a place where there are alotta jeeps comin’ & goin’ but after observin’ em, I found out that they were all headed to either Antipolo or Project sumthin so I walk’d some more till I’ve been ‘round tha same places twice, tryin to figure out where Isetann is as I remember’d goin’ there wit maver & paver on our way home a month ago. When I fin’lly found it, I got on a Quiapo/España jeep, told tha driver “isang Altura”, then immediately paid tha exact amount I paid comin’ to Ali Mall. When we were at ma school, I suddenly understood why paver alwez pays our fare only when we’re about to git off jeeps…tha driver had a flat tire & as there were only three of us left in his jeep, he gave back tha big, gangly man beside me his money & told him to git off, kept tha boy beside me who’s headed to Vito Cruz only a few miles away, & totally ignored tha clueless gurly carryin’ brand new soaps & blouse who dunno where shes goin’. So I got off after tha big man & figured out that I shud prolly board a jeep wit tha same signboard as tha one that went flat so when tha next Quiapo jeep pass’d, I flagg’d & happily boarded next to tha driver since I rarely git to sit upfront & I lov’d sittin’ in front & pretendin’ to be tha fare collector. Wut I forgot was tha fact that I was wearin’ a skirt & hafta take a big step to be able to board tha high seat of ma coveted passenger position & bein’ tha clumsy oaf that I am, prolly flash’d tha driver. I handed him a twenty-peso bill and repeated “isang Altura” but he wasn’t carryin change & told me that 3 Pesos wud be okay wit him as I don’t have change either ‘cept fo’ 4 Peso coins which I stupidly thought was not enuf as it stuck to ma mind that tha fare was still 5 Pesos even if we’re already in España. I handed him 4. Ten minutes into tha ride, he felt tha need to break tha silence by announcin’ “Ikaw na lang pala pasahero ko. Is-pesyal ka pala!” to which tryin to figure out if he was juz bein friendly or hittin’ on me, I replied wit a weak “Oo nga eh.” When we reach’d Quiapo, it began to enter ma mind that tha reason tha jeep was label’d Quiapo was coz Quiapo was its last destination before turnin’ back round to head where it came from. Suddenly ma clear steady vision of goin home started to become cloudy. I only brighten’d up when tha driver started shoutin “O, es-em, es-em!!!” to egg passersby on to board his jeep. Of course, I was on tha right jeep! Tha driver did say SM Centerpoint, diden he? I was on tha right track home! So I was confident even if we pass’d by ma former school again. And then tha face of Sonny Belmonte in his billboard came into ma view. Ain’t Sonny Belmonte tha mayor of Quezon City? And where was I again? I consoled ma’self thinking I was in Araneta & that eventually it’ll head to Centerpoint then Altura. I was doin’ a pretty gewd job of convincin’ ma’self when passengers begin to declare “Fairview” as their destination and I panicked once again. Tha last straw was when I begin seein’ tha big flashy signs for restaurants & bars in Timog like Pegasus & such. Fumin’ that tha driver diden say a word when I clearly told him I was goin’ to Altura hours ago, [& to think he was beside me!] I ask’d if he still had any plans of goin’ to Altura at tha same tellin’ him that I thought I was on tha wrong jeep. Instead of tellin’ me where to git off & where to ride tha right jeep home, tha driver juz smiled at me & told me hell be headin back to Quiapo pretty soon. Thinkin’ that was that, I resign’d back to ma seat til tha guy seatin’ at ma back spoke up & told me I shud git off at _ [can’t remember] ‘coz I’d only stray farther away from home shud I wait for tha jeep to go to Quiapo again. At tha right moment, tha guy told me to git off & instructed me to walk til I was past tha fly-over before ridin’ a bus label’d “Crossing Ibabaw” then getting’ off at tha “Central”. He diden tell me if I shud cross or juz wait for a bus after reachin’ tha fly-over. I was ‘bout to cross when a guy walk’d past & I stopp’d him to confirm whether I was headed fo tha right direction. In utter hopelessness & doom to git home right away, I also shared ma misfortunes fo’ tha earlier part of tha evenin’. Takin pity, he said that we cud ride tha bus together & proceeded in introducin’ himself & askin fo’ ma cel no. [which I diden give] prolly mullin’over whether he shud actually sacrifice bein’ late to work [he told me later on he was headed to work in Makati] to accompany a stranger to her destination, it took him eons to fin’lly flag down a “Crossing Ibabaw” bus tho’ I’ve watch’d about 10 buses pass us by [4 of which are almost empty]. Fin’lly, I tapp’d him impatiently on tha shoulder & ask’d wheteher he diden think it was time fo’ us to board a bus. After textin’ his companion, he ask’d if ‘twas a’ite wit me to stand in a bus before boarding a bus that was jampack’d wit passengers. Bein’ tha lucky gurl that I was agreed and spent half of tha ride’s duration bumpin’ into tha scrawny guy at ma back & sittin’ once on tha face of tha woman seated at ma back everytime tha bus wud lurch forward. Seein’ as I cuden stand straight wut more go thru tha contents of ma bag to git out ma wallet & pay tha konduktor, tha stranger who was ma key towards headin’ home paid for both our fare. At Mega Mall where he told me ‘twas time to git off, he even ask’d a guard fo’ directions & cross’d tha street wit me towards where many right jeeps goin home are available fo’ me to hop on. After givin me his cel no. [I still refus’d to give him mine] I was once again on a Quiapo jeep but tis time on one that’ll git me home. Tha last surprise fo’ tha night came as tha man sittin’ upfront turn’d out to be some sorta criminal coz two policemen shone their flashlight on his face & got him to unload tha jeep. Of course tha underbridge market I hafta walk thru to git home was already very dim & very empty which is an appropriate semi-ending for ma night out of listless walkin’ & hopeless commutin’. Tha grand finale was 5 slaps across tha face from ma maver when I got home at 10:30 pm.