Roller coaster jeepney rides
If you want to go on a roller coaster ride for as low as PhP 7.00, all you need to do is take a jeepney ride from Marikina Bayan to Concepcion. Make sure you choose the jeepney that has a lot of decorations on the front, and plays extremely loud music.Yes, the ones who have a “conductor” seated beside the driver and shouts “o sakay na, sakay na, maluwag pa, konting ipit lang dyan, sampuan yan!!!”
the amazing thing is, regardless of the passengers’ physical size, the seating capacity is constant. So if there are five obese people seated on one side and has already taken all the space, the conductor and driver will insist that the seating capacity is for 10 people and will force the passengers to squeeze themselves to create more space. Some “big” passengers are kind enough to pay double the fare just so they wouldn’t be inconvenienced. Unfortunately for me, since I am petite, I have always become a “filler” when I am desperate to get a ride. You can imagine me squeezing my tiny butt between big passengers and a space on the seat magically appears. Ah, thank God for slim people like me. There are times when I wonder whether big and/or obese people feel bad about taking too much space in passenger vehicles. I don’t want to sound discriminating, but that’s my experience.
Anyway, these jeepneys run like the driver is immortal. They would swerve and over take, and would do so even if the car on the opposite lane is already 100 meters ahead. Man, only in the Philippines would you see jeepneys act like they’re drag racing. I would hold on to the rail, pray to God while cussing under my breath when the driver turns the stirring wheel left and right like he’s playing in the arcade. My typical roller coaster jeepney ride prayer would go like this:
“Oh, dear God, (put….na!), sorry po, sorry po, please keep us safe (p*cha!!!). God, sorry po ulit. Turuan mo po ng leksyon tong lechecng driver na to. Pero wag po muna ngayon, pag nakababa na po ako…”
You wouldn’t believe how these jeepney drivers manage not to kill their passengers of heart attack. I don’t think these drivers passed an exam to get their license, since you can pay for a driver’s license even if you are not capable of driving. Sigh. such is the sad state of our Land Transportation Office.
I’m sure that when these jeepneys go into accidents, all the drivers could say is “I’m sorry…”, and you have no other choice but to pay for all your hospital and funeral bills. Darn.
But then again, since I have no car, I will have to take roller coaster rides often.