Jeepney Life

I'm always pleasantly surprised by the code of conduct that governs the Philippine jeepney. I used to be a much more spoiled brat than I am today, and never rode a jeepney til I was in college. And I think my first jeep was the UP Ikot (ah, you never forget your first jeep!). As I became more and more a woman of the world (with less and less access to my own car) I rode jeeps more and picked up so much stuff which probably seems common to early adaptors to jeepney riding but amazing to a late bloomer like me.

*People know better than to the driver on the shoulder or touch him in any way when giving payment. The driver has eyes at the back of his head to see you hand over payment, and an extra pair of hands holding on to the steering wheel to actually get payment even as he swerves to avoid traffic.
*Passengers develop undending patience as they wait without complaint for grandmothers, handicapped, little kids and people bringing everything from sacks of rice to bags of wet market purchases to board the jeep. In other cases they wouldn't be as forgiving.
*Passengers don't mind alighting in the middle of a busy street from a jeep and therefore holding up traffic behind them, but when given the opposing viewpoint of being part of the traffic that was held up, they can be extremely vicious.
*The driver always knows who hath not paid, and passengers always seem honest enough to pay and count out exact change for fellow passengers.
*He who sits nearest the driver has the lousy job of handing over everyone's payments and returning change. Its a never a steady job, so mostly you just take your turn.

Financials aside, it must be interesting to be a jeepney driver and see this sort of thing every day, although I'm sure they're bored with it already. I'm glad I'm not...yet.