By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
In all my years of going to school, I have been blessed with an able vehicle to transport me. From Monday to Friday, I was able to learn something new each day. Adding numbers, spelling a new word, and learning from life’s many lessons. Some traffic here and there were always to be expected, but it was something I quickly got used to. All that I was able to learn and experience more than made up for the frustrations a traffic jam would always bring. Even the heat that would already make me feel sticky in the morning was a small price to pay. For the roof of the car always kept our heads dry in the rainy season. And the only thing that would always keep me out of school was lack of motivation.
However, there were always times when the car broke down. It’s being an old model certainly did not help, but it got the job done most of the time. It was not a perfect machine. Sometimes, it took only a few days or weeks to get it back and running. Though, on rare occasions it took longer than that. A few months’ time without a vehicle was the most I remember. And at that time, we had to rely on public transportation. Though, waiting for a jeepney on Marcos Highway was not a reliable option. Especially with having to go down so early in the morning to the highway to be able to catch one with a vacant seat. During those times, my buttocks quickly got used to the hard seats of most jeepneys.
Thankfully, buses were another option in getting to Baguio. I learned how to keep my balance holding my school bag while walking inside the bus from the front to the back to find a vacant seat. The bus always started moving full speed even before a passenger could find a vacant seat to settle in. Thus, you had to cling on to one part of the bus and then to another part as you walked. The buses have pipes on the ceiling for this purpose.
Now, some days ago, circumstances have forced us once again to rely on public transportation. Though, with most schools no longer starting at 7:30 in the morning, the absence of stress and worrying made the ride a blissful experience.
One morning, we got lucky and boarded a jeepney that happened to pass by as we arrived at the highway. We quickly boarded and found most of the floor to be occupied by green beans. Contained in big plastic bags, the stacks of vegetables took up a lot of space. Now, this is hardly a rare occurrence for jeepneys in Marcos Highway. But we were always lucky enough to reach our destination after the owners of such pieces of large baggage. The way to getting off the vehicle would then be a clean straight path. Yet, sometimes, when luck was just not on our side, to navigate through all the baggage and vegetables was inevitable, along with the hassle it brings.
But, the stacks of beans could not be carried off by their owner alone. Instead, bag after bag was passed from passenger to passenger all the way to the back, where the driver waited to finally get these to the side of the road. Like a passenger’s fare passed from hand to hand until it reaches the driver at the front, this time the bags of vegetables were passed towards the back. The view of a “bayanihan” act will always be a sight of wonder. But taking part in it felt even more wondrous. “Bayanihan” will not exist without the people. So, like a group of men carrying a small hut, let us carry the word and action to the younger generation. Where it will go on and on. Carried to another era.**
