for those of us working class who take the fx every morning, probably knows the feeling of waiting in line to get to that ubiquitous air-conditioned work who will ferry us to work with the least smell of smoke and sweat.
its been almost a year since i have been lining up at the suki market to get to makati. for that amount of time of queueing, you get to notice some people already. familiar faces, familiar actions that for one way or the other, i have began to assign code names so that i can tell stories of these people.
so there were these four ladies who turned out to be my favorites. let us describe them.
singitera # 1 is on the heavy side. she has a perpetual cough and and twitches her head from side to side.
singitera # 2 looks like singitera # 1. she looks like she's her sister. and they arrive together all the time.
singitera # 3 has short hair and gets off at cash and carry. she usually arrives early and lets singitera #1 and #2 in her line. once they come in.
singitera # 4 has long hair and usually wears a shade of purple that i do not understand. she is usually the most talkative among the four.
in the past two weeks, i have been promising myself that these ladies would hear something from me, if they get into hearing distance from me. i imagined the confrontation to be bloody, and me losing my cool, and i would be having a bad day. but every time i see them doing their thing, i get infuriated because it has been unjust for everyone who falls in line every morning. in fx lines, mrt lines or in any queue for that matter, it is always first come first served. no jumping in line. no breaking the line. that was taught to us by my grade 1 teacher. and i kinda liked mrs. fernandez so i knew that it is never right to jump in line. even if the other person is really a close friend and i am in a hurry already. i just have to line up.
and so this morning, i saw singitera #1 and #2 rushing off to pay already. and of all people behind them, it was me! i braced up. i can hear my heart thumping more violently. any time now, singitera #3 and #4 would be coming.
and i saw them singiteras coming to the singiteras already in line. i took a breath and:
me: excuse me, the line is over there.
singitera #2: a-a-a-pat ang binayaran namin.
me: oh well.
what do you do at that particular moment? do you raise hell just to uphold justice. or do you just continue to say nothing because they have grown accustomed to this already.
i chose neither. they have to know that what they are doing is wrong. and i cannot just stand there and let them have their way. someone has got to take on that task. and even if they do the same thing again. i will still tell these singiteras - the line is over there.
its been almost a year since i have been lining up at the suki market to get to makati. for that amount of time of queueing, you get to notice some people already. familiar faces, familiar actions that for one way or the other, i have began to assign code names so that i can tell stories of these people.
so there were these four ladies who turned out to be my favorites. let us describe them.
singitera # 1 is on the heavy side. she has a perpetual cough and and twitches her head from side to side.
singitera # 2 looks like singitera # 1. she looks like she's her sister. and they arrive together all the time.
singitera # 3 has short hair and gets off at cash and carry. she usually arrives early and lets singitera #1 and #2 in her line. once they come in.
singitera # 4 has long hair and usually wears a shade of purple that i do not understand. she is usually the most talkative among the four.
in the past two weeks, i have been promising myself that these ladies would hear something from me, if they get into hearing distance from me. i imagined the confrontation to be bloody, and me losing my cool, and i would be having a bad day. but every time i see them doing their thing, i get infuriated because it has been unjust for everyone who falls in line every morning. in fx lines, mrt lines or in any queue for that matter, it is always first come first served. no jumping in line. no breaking the line. that was taught to us by my grade 1 teacher. and i kinda liked mrs. fernandez so i knew that it is never right to jump in line. even if the other person is really a close friend and i am in a hurry already. i just have to line up.
and so this morning, i saw singitera #1 and #2 rushing off to pay already. and of all people behind them, it was me! i braced up. i can hear my heart thumping more violently. any time now, singitera #3 and #4 would be coming.
and i saw them singiteras coming to the singiteras already in line. i took a breath and:
me: excuse me, the line is over there.
singitera #2: a-a-a-pat ang binayaran namin.
me: oh well.
what do you do at that particular moment? do you raise hell just to uphold justice. or do you just continue to say nothing because they have grown accustomed to this already.
i chose neither. they have to know that what they are doing is wrong. and i cannot just stand there and let them have their way. someone has got to take on that task. and even if they do the same thing again. i will still tell these singiteras - the line is over there.
dali lang na bay. remember Mr. Bean? katong nagbutang siya ug dummy sa door sa opening sale? heheheh
ReplyDeleteor, singitan pud nimo sila and tell them their reasons.
or another thing, make a group...singitero 1 to 4 and do the same thing as theirs. tapos, ipakita sa ila ilang style. hehe.
anyway, thx for looking for athens. :)
lagi bai! i could do that, and many others. but never to let injustice prevail. hhahaaha, bugat na ba.
ReplyDeleteand you are welcome, its a pleasure meeting up with athens last time. dugay na pud wa mi nagkita.