The Ghost in You, He Don't Fade

I met Erap face to face last July 4, at the MRT station in Kamuning.

I buy stored tickets riding the MRT. I tend to be smart enough not to fall in line every time I ride it. But on that particular day when I was at the MRT Kamuning station, I realized it wasn’t with me. A moment of clarity made me remember it was, well, at my room, somewhere.

The good thing with the Kamuning station is that it’s one of the least populated stations, so there was no long line as punishment for my mistake.

That is when I got to meet Erap.

You can’t mistake it. Same mug, same hairdo, same sneering smile… wait a moment, same job description? The one trip only MRT card I was holding was the one with Erap when he was still “His Excellency, President Joseph Ejercito Estrada.”

I thought it funny, God’s version of a joke considering that we want GMA to step down after finding evidence of her cheating her way to the presidency. Yup, finding the face of the former president who was disposed off suddenly appearing again in these times sure was sago to the Zagu shake.

A week later, at Makati Cinema Square, Jo and I heard this foreign couple talking about the card the guy had in his possession. I looked closely and it was a five hundred peso stored MRT. Yes, Erap’s mug was there too. I felt a sense of communality and approached him out of the blue, asking if I could see the card closely because like him, I too once had Erap on an MRT card. We talked a bit more then parted ways as strangers again after.

By last week I saw Erap cards everywhere. I didn’t feel special anymore. All of a sudden, it wasn’t God having a sense of humor, but some unknown distabilizer who had a subversive streak up on his/her veins.

GMA finally took notice of this small irony happening along the EDSA highway by the end of last week. She ordered all Erap cards taken out. Confusion and panic ensued as Jo witnessed it riding the MRT last Friday.

Of course, the most obvious reasons why they were being used, one I didn’t mention first hand because it was boring, is that there is a shortage of MRT cards in circulation.

Glad the former president could help.

Lola

Last Tuesday, as I again was on a Welcome Rotonda-Project 2-3 jeep to work. I got to sit beside a Lola who had means of storing money that I haven’t seen in years.

At first she took out a pink handkerchief and daubed her face a bit off some EDSA grime. Then she put the hanky on her lap and started unraveling its fold. Lo and behold, her money was wrapped in her handkerchief.

The paper bills were neatly folded, and the coins were like ROTC cadets all in order. She paid a ten peso coin to the driver’s assistant and upon receiving, Lola insisted that they just give her two pesos, rather than the two pesos and fifty centavo change. “Ayaw ko ng mga bentsinko. Sa inyo na yan.” She said. “Okay lang sa amin yun Lola!” replied the driver’s assistant. Upon receiving the two peso change, she laid it along with her other pisos, beside the five peso and ten peso coins. She didn’t have any bentsinkos in her hanky. She neatly folded back her hanky and laid it gingerly in her lap.

Later she lifted her right thigh all of a sudden and crossed her legs. Her right foot was dangling, and sticking out invading the private zone of the person in front of her. She left her right sandal on the floor too. Sweet.

Jordan
071905/10:32pm

Egg

just a few minutes ago on a Welcome Rotonda-Project 2-3 jeep to work, I saw a mid-thirties woman casually take out an egg from a plastic bag and put it inside her Gucci imitation handbag.
She had to arrange the stuff inside to accomodate the egg so I see her credit card bloated wallet shifed a little bit to the left, her cologne a bit to the middle, and god knows what else inside that the periphery of my eyes couldn't see.

I hope its hard boiled.

Jordan
071305

Commute

Here in the Philipines, commuting is the word used when riding the various means of public transport to get to your destination. Like Jeepneys, Taxis, Buses, Tricycles, FXs, and the Pedicab, you take your pick.

Basically you commute if you don’t have a car, or any private utility vehicle.

It was pointed out to me by a visiting Fullbright scholar that our use of the word “commuting” is different compared to how Americans do. Even the Canadians.

Commuting for them is whatever means you use to get to your destination. May it be a car or the subway train, may it be riding the taxi or your SUV. Whether you own the vehicle or not, you commute.

I wonder how the difference between commuting and owning a private vehicle came to be. Did the well-off people try to distance themselves with the rest by saying, “No, we don’t commute. We have ride a car.”

In America and Canada, hell, perhaps in other places too, everybody commutes. From the rich to the poor, to the old school to the new school, to the bling blings to the fare fee’d peeps. Everybody commutes.

Now that is a nice thought.

Jordan
071205/12:35pm