How to be kind in a cramped jeepney

Various jeeps in the metropolis. Special thanks to Richard.

The perils of the daily commute include numerous instances of losing one's cool. The jeepney, for instance, is minefield of occasions that test one's mettle--from getting on to hopping off. First, you have to be patient with the driver, who thinks he can smoke his way to heaven just because the vehicle is open air. Then, there are fellow passengers to contend with, ones who don't care whether or not you step on their feet while trying to squirm your way to the seat they left vacant for you, right behind the smoke-belching driver.

Well, to help make commuting more bearable, you have to keep a happy disposition, and if you stick by these Rules of Kindness, you can help others stay happy as well.

1. Be small. A jeepney is admittedly not one of the most spacious modes of transportation around. And it's even worse when it's rush hour and everyone tries to squeeze in, never mind that people.can't.breathe.anymore. So one good way to help others is to shrink--that is, try to take as little space as possible. Put your bag in your lap, push back both feet away from the center of the aisle, keep those elbows in, and sit straight. When you take up little space, that person who thought he would have to be "sabit" might actually find himself a seat.

2. Let people coming in find a seat nearer the entrance. The jeepney is filling up, and one bad habit passengers have is to squeeze themselves as close to the entrance/exit side as possible. Okay, so everyone wants to be able to hop off as soon as they get to their stop, but think about that poor last passenger whose balance is tried as he makes his way to that empty space near the driver the moment the jeep starts accelerating to Full Speed Ahead. It's actually dangerous--just like trying to fasten your seat belt in a carnival ride after the ride has started moving--but nobody seems to care because perhaps nobody has slipped and fallen to oblivion before. Must we wait for an accident to happen before being a little more charitable?

3. Let people getting off exit with grace (and without harassment). You can practically say that a jeepney is the one place in which men and women sit hip to hip and thigh to thigh without any malice. The harassment I'm talking about here is the doom-cloud feeling that people won't let you off at this stop because they are so eager to get on even when there is no breathing space seat available inside.

There are those chaotic jeepney loading zones that don't have the word "pila" in their vocabulary, and so the mob that welcomes the newly-arrived jeepney practically pushes back in those people trying to get out. Once, when I was getting off at Eastwood, the mob tumbled right into the jeepney and one lady decided she would like to sit on my lap all the way to Cubao before I cried, "Bababa ako!!!"

Common sense dictates that nothing can occupy a space already occupied, so having a little patience in waiting for occupant to vacate coveted wormhole is an act of kindness.

4. Assist the driver and fellow passengers by being willing to help pass the payment/change to and fro. No one has extendable arms, so kindly pass the money and nobody gets hurt. Feigning sleep... for what? You don't want to get your hands dirty by touching loose change? How did you pay for your own ride again?

5. Help the "para" whisperers be heard. Jeepney drivers are a curious type of Homo sapiens sapiens. They have incredible voices that can call you from one block away. They have keen eyesight that can spot a potential passenger 200-500 meters away. They have impressive math skills that can keep track of calculations for change demanded by harried passengers who have no coins. In fact, they can calculate and drive at the same time. But one thing they are not good at is to hear pleas of "Para!" over the loud hip hop music to which they all seem to prefer going deaf. When somebody has said "para" twice already with no apparent results, it's time for you to intervene and echo the "para" too.

6. Refrain from any outward show of temper. All right, you may be the victim. Fine, justice dictates you've got the upper hand. But that's no excuse to mutter under your breath, make loud tutting sounds, or shoot the evil eye at anyone. Just remember this: in a cramped jeepney, everyone is not comfortable, everyone just wants to go home, and everyone is tired. Don't be the sore one who loses cool. It won't facilitate anything anyway.

7. Pay up! You see those signs in some jeepneys that go "God knows HUDAS not pay" and think they're funny, but in a cramped jeep, there are people who really just "forget" about paying up. Just this morning, the jeep driver called after somebody who got off at Eastwood when he said he was getting off at Cubao. Nope, he didn't pay! All the driver could do was holler [insert unkind words here]. Dude, you may not have taken anything, but not paying for a service you availed of is injustice, plain and simple. To be blunt, it's called stealing. And as the funny sign reminds us, even if nobody noticed, "God knows."

---

So, there you have it! Can you think of other ways to be kind in a cramped jeepney? I'd love to hear them :-)

How not to vote

Art by Aaron Felizmenio.

I just came across this interesting article in Tapat, an online news publication (soon to be print tabloid). It talks about how to be a good voter by describing the bad habits of a bad voter ("bobotante").

Here's one that must be reiterated:

3. “Di ko kilala mga kandidato. Bahala na sa makikita ko sa balota.”
Napakaraming mga web pages tulad nito na nagpapakilala sa mga kandidato. Pag bibili ka ng cellphone, nag-re-research ka pa ng sandamukal at nagtatanong-tanong ka kung ano ang okey na bilhin. Naghahanap ka pa kung san ka makakamura. Andami mong oras na naka-log in sa Facebook pero yung pagbasa man lang ng profile at list ng mga kandidato online, di mo magawa. Tapos rereklamo ka ng kung sino-sino ang nananalo.

It's true that before we go vote, we have to do our homework! It sucks that it seems many are more willing to do enough (or too much) homework on a gadget that they want to buy, but think so little of the candidate they will vote. Remember, this is they guy who will represent YOU in the next few years of your life as citizen.

I like this one too:

6. “Di na ko boboto, wala rin naman magbabago.”Ok lang yan, pero huwag ka ring masyadong mag-reklamo. Dahil ang di mo pagboto, katulad na rin ‘yan ng pagsuporta mo sa taong ayaw mong manalo. Ang di mo pagboto, ay hindi direktang pagboto sa kandidatong di mo gusto.

Your non-vote is an indirect vote cast for the person you do not wish to put in office. When you vote and your candidate doesn't win, well, at least that gives you the right to say "I didn't vote for that guy" when his term turns out to be an epic fail. 

But seriously, if there is a candidate you deem worthy of the position, don't hesitate to cast your vote for him or her. More than a right, voting is a RESPONSIBILITY. It's the role you fulfill to help chart the course of the country. I use a nautical idiom purposefully: because in seafaring terms, err just one degree off course and your direction completely changes in time. Before you know it, your ship does not find port and you are lost.

So, study... and vote wisely.

A few truths to think about

I suppose it's high time I explain why I do not like contraception, and I fear I have no more excuses to leave it for another day (weekend, month, year) given the fact that I am currently stuck in my room for the next few days/weeks. Also, I am trying very hard not to scratch this chicken pox, and typing gives me a reason to keep my fingers busy doing something else.

Enough with the intro. Here, a few truths I've been mulling over for the past few days. Pramis, they're connected to contraception.

TRUTH #1. We are responsible for our actions at all times. You'd be shocked and scandalized if you see someone leave a post in the middle of the train tracks with the intention of preventing the train from reaching its destination (nevermind if people die in the process). If somebody bombed a bridge, the city would arrest him for killing people he never intended would be there and for destroying a key part of commerce and whatnot.

So why is it considered "smart" to insert an intrauterine device with the intention of stopping a fertilized egg (100% individual human being) from implanting in the womb? What makes it different? It's not wrong because you don't actually see any dead bodies? Any gradeschool kid can tell you when life begins--that "it's only tissue" is a useful lie that fake feminists tell in order make contraception and abortion acceptable.

Say what you want but it doesn't change the truth that you don't know if you are killing anybody by using contraception methods that are abortifacients at the same time (the pill, IUD, emergency contraception). It's like the "rustling in the bushes" idea: should you shoot if you don't know it's a person? Obviously, no.

TRUTH #2. We are responsible for taking care of Mother Nature and the Earth. Though we have the ability to discover things and to make use of science to achieve our goals, we are also responsible for the health of the world around us.

I don't understand how this concept is so clear when it comes to cutting down pine trees in Baguio or clubbing baby seals in the northern lands. Heck, we even prefer natural products for our bathing and beautifying to preserve nature and keep our bodies "chemical free"! But why is it that when it comes to not just polluting but also perverting the body, suddenly nobody sees green? That's exactly what contraception is: pollution and perversion. For it to work, it has to upset the woman's natural body processes. Contraception means taking something that is right and good (the reproductive cycle) and twisting it to serve your own ends. And speaking of selfish ends...

TRUTH #3. Contraception has a selfish end. From childhood, we are taught to be selfless. If we listened back then, we know that sharing is good, doing service for others is good, etc. Of course, it's also good for us to leave nice things for ourselves--though never at the expense of others. So why does contraception go against all that? Contraception fosters an inclination to choose the self over other people.

Again, I know that contraception is not abortion. But contraception teaches a person to be closed to the possibility that a new human being is formed as a consequence of sex. In the end, it's just you enjoying what you can do with your body and intentionally erasing some undesired natural effect. (Note: it's not a side effect.)

I'm not saying family planning is bad. By all means, married couples should definitely plan their family. But they should be selfless enough to plan it in a way that is open to surprises. Don't they say "life is full of surprises"? If married couples are not open to life, what happens when a surprise (despite all the contraceptive methods they use) still comes their way? This is how people begin to accept abortion.

TRUTH #4. A true feminist appreciates the female ability to bear a child. I admire the earlier feminists; the ones who went against the norms of society that women can't vote, study, or speak their mind. I thank them for what they did, for without them I would probably not be writing now. The later feminists, however, seem to have gotten the ideals all wrong! They want to be equal to men; particularly, they want to be like men who can have sex anytime and with anyone they want without being "punished with a baby." This is a snowball of lies that just keeps getting bigger! (If you don't believe me, figure out--with study--why the women's liberation movement in the 1960's is closely tied to, er, the birth of the widespread use of birth control. Particular question to ask: What did these women think they were liberated from?)

First of all, women can never be equal to men because they are not men. (Before any violent reactions, I say men can never be equal to women either.) Women and men are complementary, that means they can work together as a team and balance each other out. They can both have PhDs, carry 500lbs, be good at styling hair or whatever. The point is, no matter what their individual skills are, they are not the same and that is a good thing.

Secondly, men are not exempt from having responsibility for a baby. They can run away, I suppose, but that just means they've owned up to not being man enough. :-P

Thirdly, a baby is not a punishment, but a gift. Not every sexual act leads to a baby. For lack of a better word, it's a miracle, which is best explained by Dr. Manhattan in this scene in Watchmen:

from Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Call it a fertilized egg, zygote, embryo, or fetus--it's still a new person with the 46 chromosomes and complete DNA of a homo sapiens sapiens. But, more importantly, as the excerpt emphasizes, that baby is a unique human being--only one in all the world. And this unique person asks for only one little thing from moms and dads at this point in life: that he (or she) be allowed to live. And how can he live? By the very beautiful process called the complete 9 months of pregnancy that only women can do. Don't hate it, ladies--be proud of it! 

TRUTH #5. Chastity rocks--and it leads to real happiness. So it's true that many people are having their babies before they get married. Everybody's doing it blah blah blah--forget it. It's still not the way to go. If everybody shoplifted at 7-Eleven, does it make stealing all right? While there are happy endings to those premarital baby stories, you can't ignore the fact that for most of them, it doesn't turn out quite so fine in the end. :-(

The problem with contraception is that it makes premarital sex "ok as long as you don't get knocked up"--which practically gives people license to do whatever they want, provided.... Plant this philosophy in the heart of every young person and you create a society of Anything Goes As Long As You're OK, You're Healthy, You Don't Hurt Anybody, And... oops, now there's a contradiction.

A philosophy of "doing whatever you want" is--and will always be--incompatible with "watching out for the good of others." You can never become selfless when the philosophy of your heart is hedonism: achieving only your own happiness, your own pleasures, you you you you. Where does the self end and others begin? No where.

That's why chastity rocks! Chastity is a recipe for true love. Why? It teaches a person to care for the well being and happiness of another person. It teaches self mastery and self sacrifice, and in the end rewards people with a happy marriage, happy kids, and happy families! Because you learn not to think of yourself, you are more likely to work harder on a marriage than someone who would just give up and run away from problems because "it hurts." Remember, marriage is not easy--and it will hurt at some point. It's not Cinderella fitting a glass slipper and then wearing beautiful gowns for the rest of her life; it's Mr. and Mrs Weasley putting all seven kids through school with a single income and lots of creativity! I mean, between Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy, who lives in a happier home?

What's the point of it all? Don't believe what you see on popular TV, idealized magazines, mainstream media. If you really want to understand, read books, documents, articles. Scrutinize both sides of the issue. Study hard and really strive to put your ability to reason to work unearthing the truth, the honest-to-goodness truth, the truth that you might not want to hear because it means you'll have to give up some things and "complicate" your life.

If you study real hard, you'll understand that contraception only masquerades as prudence or forethought, but it's actually the start of a series of lies based on the belief that you can do whatever you want without having to respect how nature works, and without worrying about how it will affect (worse, harm) others. You can't have rewards without responsibility--because you have to consider how your rewards affect those around you, society, the world culture, and the environment.

You can take all this as just some ramblings of a girl riding out her chicken pox, or you can go study it well and see for yourself. If you can't seem to pick out the truth from the lies, remember that in most cases the truth is the simplest solution. That's why the people who live in the truth are always happy. 

Some strong words

Whenever I read this, I remember my mom reprimanding us when we'd complain about how bored we were. Those were the days. Now, she scolds us for always having something to do. Hehe, parents.  

Dalawang Bayani

What would happen if Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio collaborated in one work of art? 

In this Palanca award-winning one-act play, Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio puts the two key figures in Philippine history together in a dialogue that gets them to talk of their joys, sorrows, hopes, loves, and special vision for the Nation that they both dream of passing down to the new generation of Filipinos.

The Catechists of Calayan (Catc:H) invite you to watch Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas in a rare restaging of Dalawang Bayani, the 1995 winner for One Act Play in Filipino in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. Proceeds will help send a catechist to the 2013 World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Watch Dalawang Bayani on September 8, 2012, at 10am or 2pm, at the Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Teatro Papet Museo, 64 Mapagkawanggawa St. Teacher's Village East, Diliman, QC.

Tickets are pledge cards that may be bought for Php 300, 500, 700, or 1000, depending on whether the person wishes to Share a Step, Go in Strides, Take a Leap, or Fly a Catechist to Brazil respectively. You may also support us by sponsoring a child from the urban poor communities of Bgy. Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City, or public school students from Ramon Magsaysay and Rizal High School to watch the play for free. Whichever way you would like to help, you’re sure it is for a good cause!

Contact Nicole at 0916-341-3366 or email nikkobautista at gmail dot com.

See you there!

Some interesting reads

As a book lover and reader I advocate study. And I don't mean ABCs and Do Re Mis, I mean really looking at issues inside and out before forming an educated opinion on things. That's why lately I've been very dismayed when people take so much stock in their own logic and not bother to dig deeper into the real story. Then they criticize those who study the facts as if all this boils down to is feelings. It's so unscholarly, so shameful.

So, quick post here to give some interesting reads some spotlight.

Going extinct is no fun
This is about the effects of the strict population measures Singapore implemented in the 1970s.

Sotto bares foreign agenda behind RH bill.
It's unfair that Sotto is getting all this flak lately. Instead of picking on him, try listening to what he has to say first, please?

Freedom from Catholicism
Let's promote true freedom :-)


"There is no excuse for those who could be scholars and are not."-St. Josemaria Escriva

It works :-)

I recently came across this video--it's an anti-smoking campaign by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation. And while it's simple (no artsy camera angles or fancy picture quality), the message comes out pretty strong. Watch it and see for yourself... and remember that sometimes, we need to look at how it could be bad for kids to see better how some things could be bad for us, too.