Monday, August 15, 2005
Velasco: Beep beep
By Dindin Velasco
Grain of Salt
"...traffic rules are a good indicator of discipline. Judging from how we are doing, we're not there just yet."
THE Filipino people are known for quite a number of positive things: a wry sense of humor even in the midst of absolute turmoil, an unequalled ardor for cooking and consuming copious amounts of good food, the unshakeable bond between family and that passionate religious fervor that tells us to look up when there seems to be no way out.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of our sense of discipline. Oftentimes, we wheedle, manipulate, cajole, threaten, sweet-talk, conspire, whine, flatter, persuade, bully and terrorize our way through the drudgery of our mediocre lives. And all I'm referring to with the previous sentence is the way we pound the streets in the concrete jungle of Davao.
It's traffic, baby. Or, as my grammatically-snobbish friends would say: traffic congestion. And it seems like it's here to stay.
A friend of mine once told me: "Ang mga driver dito sa Davao, talagang mas malala pa kesa sa Manila."
Considering that Manila is the place I love to hate, most of all for the absolutely deteriorated travel conditions in that unfair metro, I was aghast at the comment of a seasoned driver against my own fair city.
But then I realized that if I was to negate his sardonic remark, I had to be armed with facts. So I did a little comparative observation. And what I ended up with was a bitter pill in the mouth.
First point: MMDA versus TMG. In Manila, I am terrified even to be at the passenger seat of a private vehicle traversing EDSA. The MMDA are absolute sticklers for rules, and are relentless in their pursuit of violators. The no u-turn, no swerving and similar signs bear with it the gravity of foreboding lest you even think of putting one over their heads.
My TMG experiences, on the other hand, are laughable at best. Their being traffic enforcers take on a literal meaning: when you experience congestion at any major road network in the city, there's a good chance that there is a man in green actually enforcing traffic at the next intersection.
I have tried, over and over, to determine how much training these men have had in directing traffic. From my daily experience of ambiguous hand signals and simultaneous "go" gestures for two conflicting flows among other boo-boos, I therefore conclude that no matter how many seminars they attended, these apparently are not enough.
Second point: the concept of yielding. Every week, I yelp out an average of two "mamehh!!!" or some invective to verbalize my fear and outrage at why two vehicles would careen at full speed towards each other and stopping abruptly a mere six inches from major fender bender. I know you need to be ballsy to do city driving. But if scaring the bejeesus out of every vehicle you encounter is a prerequisite to proving your manhood, then I would have to conclude that every
other driver in this city is trying to compensate for his significant, um, inadequacies. If you know what I mean.
I really could go on and on with this tirade but I always make it a point to project hope in every article that I write. And I therefore humbly offer a few suggestions to ease our beep beep blues based on my experience as a harassed commuter and occasional car rider.
Please train the TMG properly and practicably before letting them loose on the streets. Please yield to the vehicle on your right. Please designate the corner before an intersection as a loading/unloading zone; as the corner after an intersection makes it difficult to turn right with care. Pedestrians, please use the yellow lines and the overpass when you cross the street. And drivers, if you see a pedestrian jaywalking, please run them down (just kidding).
A forwarded email declared that traffic rules are a good indicator of discipline. Judging from how we are doing, we're not there just yet. And if we can't be courteous and respectful of the most basic of laws every time we leave our homes for our daily grind, then how are we going to reach our destination of
becoming a great country? Beep beep.
(You may email missabsinthe@yahoo.com for you comments and reactions)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (August 15, 2005 issue)
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