Go to Work..

Oftentimes people talk about work. I have this fancy of sharing stories transpired on my way to work, which I have lots of.

For those who have cars, stories would be like they were cut by another vehicle, they got late because they were not able to catch the green light and the likes. Nagta-tricycle, jeep or van lang ako so my anecdotes would likely be encounters with tricycle drivers and other nice and not-so nice passengers.

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May nakasabay akong matandang babae sa biyahe, nabanggit ko na tga-NSO ako.

Sabi niya...

"Tamang tama, ung anak ko naglo-loan sa Pag-IBIG. Kelangan b talagang kumuha muna cia ng TIN sa BIR?"

Ang weird!

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Tumawag ako ng tricycle from which may sakay nang isa sa loob. Sabi ko "Avon po?"  This means papunta ako sa my Avon Building which our office shares the space. Tumango, ibig sabihin sakay na, pero tinuro niya na sa likod na ng tricycle ako sumakay.

For a moment, I looked at the person inside the tricycle and how i look. Mukha ba akong busabos? sabi ko (sarcastic) "Bakit? di ako pwede sa loob.." VIP ba iyon, di pwede tabihan?

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Usual issue we have with tricycle drivers is the fare. Tricycle ride in our city is P10. Kapag pila you have to pay for the trip which is times three, P30. Pero, sa dumadaan lang ako pumapara so supposedly P10 lang. Our office is located one block away from the general hospital. Since it's one block away from the usual place of destination, it's reasonable that drivers charge us P15. 

More often, tricycle drivers would turn us down upon learning that we will go in that area. Most of the time we'll be able to ride on our third or fourth try.

I called a tricycle. "Avon po?" He replied," P20" meaning he'll charge me twice the regular fare.  I said "P15". "Malayo kasi, P20 dun".

Duh! three years na ko sumasakay dun P15 lang. Uto-uto siguro ung mga pumapayag ng bente.

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There are lots of other stories I experienced which I don't share in FB. I'm FB friends with my boss. He calls our attention when we post negative comments or we sound sarcastic. It's fine because it encourages us to become more positive. Anyways, I declared on my account where I work and its not good that I reflect unpleasant image as part of the office.

Lastly, I also maintain calmness these days when faced with such situations. If not, I might become notorious to the drivers as arrogant. Also, I have an uncle who's also a tricycle driver. I would feel bad if other people treat him badly.

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I arrived on my second work which I'm already five minutes late. I paid P20. I can't wait to run towards the guard table to log in. The tricycle driver stopped for quite a while holding my P20. "Wala po kayong barya?" (I still have a change of P10). I said none. There was a long pause. He was not moving expecting I'll get the twenty and produce P10 on my own.

To add drama to the scenario, I'm still inside the tricycle because it's raining. I don't know how much would be lessen to my salary for the day had he not moved and continued to waste my (late) time.

"Anu, eh di ipapalit mo.. ikaw naghahanapbuhay, ikaw magpabarya?"
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