Rainy Day

If you have been to the Philippines, you have probably seen and ridden our national mode of transportation: the jeepney. If you are an underprivileged Filipino like me, you probably have to deal with the numerous inadequacies and inconveniences of daily commute particularly these days when the rainy season has just kicked in.

That said (and my annoying commute experience earlier), I felt like coming up with this post.

Commuting Etiquette 101 (This is for you guy in the waiting shed who usurped the only remaining decent seat from the jeepney I hailed earlier and is responsible for the 10 minutes of the worst commute in my life when 3/4 of my butt was virtually hanging off the chair)

1. When someone hails a jeepney first, never breach common etiquette and steal their only remaining decent seat in the cramped jeepney. Hail your own jeepney. Especially when you are a guy and you are competing with a girl for a seat. If chivalry is really not history, prove it.

2. Stop staring at that other commuter. Trust me, she knows you are staring and she's thinking you are a creep.

3. When the jeepney is already a bit cramped and another commuter attempts to get in, do that commuter a favor and scoot over! It's your CIVIC duty, damn it! Don't wait for the commuter to ask you to scoot over. Take the initiative (particularly when she is carrying a comparatively large camera that weighs a ton, lugging a huge bag and dragging along an umbrella.

4. Don't wait to pass your fare when the destination is already near (you had all the time in the world to do that especially when you are from freaking Bacnotan!). The other passengers are already preparing to go down and their hands are full. It's tedious, not to mention annoying to put down a huge bag, a camera and an umbrella to accommodate you and your fare!

5. Really now, this is the time to stop staring. It's no longer creepy. It's rude and grating and she's seriously considering rummaging through her bag with something blunt to bludgeon you senseless with. And no, she isn't going to change her personal style and dress down just because there are creepy commuters like you.

6. Your life's story is probably worth being written as a best-selling novel, but before that happens, save yourself the needless embarrassment and never divulge the details of your life in the thick of the other commuters. Other than those who have their earphones plugged in, everyone is probably all ears.

7. I know you probably can't get enough of Nicki Minaj's or Bruno Mars' latest songs and you can't bear the short trip without listening to them, hence your incessant playing of your boombox (I mean your phone), but really, not everyone shares your taste in music.

8. Stop snickering behind your palms whilst repeatedly sneaking a glance at another commuter. It fans the fire of paranoia to life.

Be an exemplary commuter. The next time you take the jeepney, make sure you bring your sensitivity with you.

Seriously, I should be a values education teacher or something. I'd drill these things to my students. It's a pity common etiquette is so lost to people these days. Whatever happened to respect? To common courtesy? To chivalry? 

And it's not just commuting.  

My older cousin once told me not to wear too stylish clothes as it tends to attract too much unwanted attention in tiny old San Fernando City where dressing up is usually a rarity.

Even though I wanted to be too crazy in my outfit choices sometimes (layering and such), I usually have to bank the urges and settle for something a little more normal. These days, I usually don modest vintage style dresses with over the knee hem length and I make sure that I am occasion-appropriate. I also make sure I bare just the right amount of skin (but really, I couldn’t look skimpy and kitschy even if my life depended on it, thanks to my itty-bitty stature).  But even during those days when I look like someone’s grandma dressed me up, there are still guys who would make catcalls and gross insinuating remarks.

It’s like you can’t even dress up without being disrespected. And when you get mad, they’d say you are asking for it, that you shouldn’t be parading in public places dressed as you are, that you incite negative thoughts in other people.  

Why do the prejudice and the maliciousness of the society have to cage us? Do we really have to clad ourselves in tight skinny jeans, basic t-shirts to be considered respectable? Should we confine ourselves to mundane aesthetics just because we are afraid of gaining too much attention? Why can't we just roam the streets in whatever manner of dressing we fancy without encountering Gonad the Barbarian?

Why can't we, huh? Why can't we?

I realized it’s not the person who is fancily dressed that bleeds prejudice although society often thinks otherwise. It’s usually the conformists, the people with twisted morals.

So yeah, I just have a lot of feelings today. lol. I didn't mean to subject you to such mind-numbing post. I also did not mean to cast a negative image to my fellowmen. It's just that such issues do exist and it's no longer right to tolerate them. 

Anyway, here's an OOTD post. Just some quick snaps before it started raining again.