Sa jeep...

After eating dinner with my two high school friends, Anthea and Rizel, we decided to go to a videoke bar at Bajada. We took the jeepney instead of the very expensive taxi to kill the time since it was still very early.
As we sat down inside the jeepney, I suddenly remembered what my lecturer, Sir Nodalo, told our class that morning. He complained about how Davaoweños are when riding a jeepney. Our conversation started then.
I started talking about the very persuasive kundoktors here in Davao. Unique among them are the kundoktors of Mintal/Calinan route. Who wouldn’t be shocked or irritated when they come close to you? Very close that mura na mog magbeso-beso ni manong! They sometimes hold your arm with matching eye to eye and say “Mintal maam? Mintal? Larga na ta mam…Mintal!”. At Roxas in front of Ateneo, these kundoktors would meet you across the street, walk with you (face to face gihapon) and still insist “Mintal maam? Mintal?”. Bisan pa naglingo-lingo na ka “Mintal maam? Mintal?” gihapon ang pangutana ni manong. Pastilan! I hope they realize that not all people lives at Mintal or lives along the way going to Mintal. Naa pud intawon taga Bajada, Tibuungco, Sasa, Panacan.
Rizel talked about the different places you should sit according to your personality. If you’re kind enough then you wouldn’t mind sitting near the driver even if there are only three of you inside. Kay alangan, mura pud kag kunodktor kay ikaw tagdawat og pasahe. And you wouldn’t also mind the sometimes very hard kuhit of other passengers “Bai, bayad daw palihog”. If you are a bit stubborn, you would always opt to sit near the entrance (the farthest from the driver). Para ikaw na pud ang mamalihog sa bayad. Just remember to be gentle sa pagkuhit sa imong katapad kay basig mabun-og. I added that when I was in college, I would always make it a point to sit farthest to the driver para dili ako ang maghatag sa pamasahe. It’s not that I’m being stubborn, but intawon, puti akong palda! Kung tulo ra mi sa jeep, unya akoy duol duol, mura na gyud og trapo-h ang akong palda kay magbaguros sa hastang aboga nilang lingkuranan.
Anthea complained on the very hard working jeepneys, kanang mga pamugasay! You know, the jeepney kundoktor who keeps on saying “Sibugi Daw! Sibugi palihog! Diha sa wala….pulo pulo na !” with a very hard hapak on the side. Only to find out that only half of the passenger’s butt can fit in. Kudkud gyud manong!
I then told them what Sir Nodalo complained about. He asked our class why do some Davaoweños pay exactly before they step down the jeepney? “Lugar lang nong, bayad daw palihog.” Why not just pay upon sitting down so there will be no hassles? But when Sir complained on why do some knock on the jeepney’s ceiling before going down, our class just exploded with laughter. Bitaw no! I told Anthea and Rizel that people do that to get the driver’s attention of course. If the jeepney is so jam-packed and the street is so busy, the driver may not hear the passengers sometimes and so people knock on the ceiling or tuktukon og coin ang metal handle.
Knocking is very much important if you are riding a jeepney bound for Toril. They are very well known for their “boom-Boom” sound system. I remembered what my Clinical Instructor told the kundoktor during our Community Nursing exposure, “Dong, pakihinayan daw inyong sounds kay murag mausab akong heartbeat!” See? Ana kakuyaw og kakusog ilang jeep. So there is really a need for you to knock on the ceiling. “Kung muingon kag lugar lang nong na normal voice, dili jud ka madunggan oi!”, I said. “Lagi jud!”, Anthea blurted out. Then I added, “ Perti! Dapat gyud kusgan nimo imong tingog kanang mualingog-ngog gyud ba…LUGAR LANG NONG!”
The jeepney stopped. All the passengers looked at me, the driver stared at me at the mirror. I blushed and said “Ay hala! Wala to nong, sorry!” Naglingo-lingo lang intawon ang driver og nagpadayon.
Giatay ra! Me and my big mouth sa jeep….