The Jeepney Ride: A Ride to Last My Lifetime

I have created this blog to unload my thoughts and the thoughts of many of those people who like me take the jeepney on almost a daily basis.  

I take the jeepney because I have to.  I don't have a car, and I don't know how to drive.  And it is really cheap.  I don't need to pay for annual registration, I don't need to pay for maintenance.  And if I need to go somewhere real quick, there is the taxi.  And now that everyone is into environmental protection, public transport is really the way to go.

In a hot climate such as the Philippines, the jeepney ride can be the most frustrating part of one's day.  For one, there is no privacy; it is really a crowded place.  And since it is public transport, you cannot complain about your neighbors.  They can smell like hell and all you can do is cover your nose or risk getting a black eye and tell them that they stink.  

But there are pay-offs.  This mode of transportation allows the ordinary folk to go to their destinations cheaply, and for the most part, safely.  The jeepney also suits the collective personality of the Filipino:  friendly, accommodating, hospitable.

One of my very good friends once said more than two decades ago that she likes to ride in jeepneys because she can hear the conversations of people and she can learn something from them.  And it is so true.  We have become so busy with our lives that we continue to unload our thoughts while riding this most public of all transportations.  

I have heard about family problems, family breakups, heartbreak, victories, life philosophies, gossip, sports, opinions about anything and everything from people’s conversations in jeepneys.  As a very private person, I could not believe at first that people would allow others to listen in on their conversations, how they could allow others to know about their lives, and how oftentimes they even talk about themselves and their lives to complete strangers like those people taking the commute with them.  But then I realized that the very public nature of this mode of transportation makes these conversations anonymous; it’s just like those people are talking to themselves—just like those thoughts would remain private—because unless they know everybody in the jeepney, there is very little chance that one’s life will become the fodder of gossip.  People will just know the story, but the story becomes random.  The life lessons are learned, but the source is unknown.  There is no need to be embarrassed.

And so I listen.  And I hope I have listened well.