By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
Jeepneys that circle around town are a godsend when the sun is too intense or when your feet are beyond hurting. After school, when the mind is exhausted and the body itself cannot be bothered to walk, I often look to ride in these jeepneys. When the time is already late and the last trip going to our home is only a couple minutes to leaving, then riding these jeepneys to get me closer to our station is a must. Just this day, I wanted to catch the remaining few jeepneys in our station, so I had to hail another jeep that would bring me closer.
As I entered, there were only a few passengers inside. Some students just like me. Others were probably employees. All seemed to have their energy close to depletion.
The jeepney waited for another few minutes for possible commuters. After some time, it would go down the street but stop again, with the driver looking carefully in the sidewalk. There were a few who managed to get in thanks to the driver being patient. But overall, the total was not much.
As gas prices continue to remain high, the desperation from the driver can be seen as some moments we stayed in the same spot for a long time, waiting for commuters that would help remedy the bleeding revenue of many jeepney drivers.
To help at the very least make a dent in the rising problems of drivers, I started to just pay as a regular instead of taking the student discount. Of course, only when the cash was actually there.
But there are more impressive initiatives out there that help our drivers. A donation drive has even started in our school for our drivers. And there even more programs out there.
In times of hardship, the lesson of sticking together rings louder and louder. In the pandemic, our family did not survive on government handouts alone but also on the many foods that our friends and family gave to us. It was fellowship that helped keep us afloat.
Now that we are in a crisis, the feeling of helping others must beam brighter than ever and transform into actions. Desperation will only grow stronger as the days go by and people earn less and less, spend more and more.
Now that people have started several initiatives and programs that help our drivers, it is our part to go to these and give out what we can. For most of our lives we have relied on drivers to take us to our schools. Partly, futures are realized because of these people, now that their own futures are at stake, there is only giving back to them and ensure theirs.
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