Admit it, you have one... something that gets your goat, no matter how well-mannered you may be, there's just someone (or some people) who - out of sheer inconsideration... or sheer stupidity or maybe even both, gets you wondering how come Darwin's theory of evolution has not yet made such creature extinct.
I am of course
referring to those people who hog the road or not practice road courtesy by way of their just having a vehicle and damn the rest; who should watch out for them. These incompetents
come in the form of either the raging bus driver, who cares not which lane he may be treading, or which lane he may be crossing - I say he, here in consideration of having seen, on very rare occasions, a female bus driver, and naturally may intentionally or
uncaringly threaten to bump other vehicles
should they not watch out for the bus's long and large dimensions.
Then there are the
jeepney drivers - as people from the Philippines can attest, these kinds of vehicles can almost be found plying every part of the city's
thoroughfares. But the
jeepney in itself is not the culprit - its also perhaps, the equally unimpressive, insensitive driver, who's only difference with the bus driver is the size of the vehicle they bring. These people ply the streets - hogging lanes as if they own it and not mindful if they stay there for more than 15 minutes, all the while blocking others from moving forward.
On rarer occasions - though it may
also be because they are not allowed to ply the major streets, we have the tricycles and pedicabs who also at times like to hod the lanes, unmindful that they block other faster
vehicles from possibly overtaking in a proper manner, due to their unmindful style of driving or pedalling... and be careful, since some of them are ignorant of the meaning of signalling, whether by hand or by signal lights. One wonders if they even know some road courtesy.
But these
tri-wheeled vehicles are less reckless than
some people plying the streets on motor bikes as they drive through with reckless abandon and are likewise unmindful of traffic situations where some cars yield to offer other cars the right of way to move or turn in intersections. Instead, it seems some of these drivers only have two actions and either move fast or move faster. Sometimes it is ironic that they hog the entire road when they can easily stay a little to the side to allow for faster vehicles to pass them without fanfare - but would be the first to
zig and
zag in
densely populated streets, unmindful of their reckless cutting ways.
This does not of course exempt other
vehicles - cars, vans or the likes, with drivers who likewise were in some past (and I won't be surprised if it was a past life if they also drove the same way) a reckless bus,
jeepney, taxi or motorcycle driver.
Little surprise that others can get road rage - more so those that ply and drive in a mindful and courteous manner. Simply put, the streets have seemingly gone to the dogs - and this can be attested to the seemingly
unavailability - or uncaring attitude of traffic enforcers (another story can be said about them too), and without enforcement, we have chaos. In order to survive this concrete jungle's manic drivers, one has to either drive extra careful or adapt a more aggressive attitude and be armed with an equal amount of tricks - basically 'push-backs' to let these pushy drivers know that you are not one to be pushed around.
I've heard before - from some foreigners, that you would have to be crazy to drive in the Philippines, and seeing how the collective madness of the street seems to play out - i would have to reluctantly agree.
To be fair, there are drivers in such profession that seem to epitomize great character,
upbringing and even courtesy while driving... but these people are more the exception to the rule, and I would consider it a miracle when I meet one of these rare breed of drivers handling a public transport.
So what can one think of when faced with these crazies? Well for one, are you willing
to fight fire with fire? Are you just willing
to let another one go? ... and if so, how many more?... how long
before you say 'enough!'? Would it be worth your while to stoop to their level? Of course not. Would you win in an altercation? Most of the time, these
aggressive a-holes will suddenly become meek when they realise they can't pay for damages their recklessness incurred. So where's the justice? Nope... one has to just bear with this stupidity and check one's self for any like-minded stupid action. Its not a case of right or wrong here, its a case of self-preservation... both in time, sanity and grief.
The problem is, some of these reckless drivers rely just on that fact. They don't care that they can't pay for their recklessness - nope. They count on the fact that you know its not worth it, so they get away with their arrogance.
Like I said before... I really wonder why these questionably educated (if they are educated at all) reckless public transport or private drivers (again, of which not every driver fits into) are still around - you'd think that Darwin's natural selection process would have removed them from the gene pool already. Ah well... maybe next week.
