A Day Not Worth Remembering

Last Monday I was tapped to work two hours on top of my scheduled shift.  So I have to start early 3 am from the usual 5 am.  I don’t mind the extra work, more money for me right?

So since I have a habit of leaving for work two hours before my shift starts I quietly and sleepily left our home in Malabon city at 1 am.  I have traveled around Metro Manila for quite a number of years now.  I thought I was ready….. I thought wrong.

5 minutes into the trip the jeepney that I was riding on was forced to take a shortcut into one of Malabon’s slum area as a large part of Governor Pascual Ave. is being repaired (for the last couple of months now, mind you.)  I was seated in front of the vehicle right next to the entrance and a seat away from the driver.  The man next to me got off and another man wanted to sit in front as well.  So as a good citizen, I scooted over and I was now sitting next to the driver.  A few more minutes the jeepney stopped again to let more passengers in.  All of a sudden without warning or anything the man seating next beside me got punched in the head, then another punch on his back. Punch…punch…punch!  The man beside me can’t do anything, because the man who was hitting him, has the advantage of standing outside of the jeepney, after several more punches the attacker stopped, smiled at the man he was trashing and walked  away a few feet, still smiling his silly grin as if everything was normal and beating a helpless man is an everyday thing.

I and the other passengers were shocked!  Nobody moved for a while.  Then the driver, finally getting back his senses started the jeepney and drove us out of there.  A few more minutes of stunned silenced and I picked up the courage and asked the man beside me if he knew his attacker.  The man just shook his head and with tears falling from his eyes said “I’m not even from around here…”  That means the man was just given a random beating, or what Filipinos called “napag-tripan lang“.  I have heard about these attacks since I was a kid, but I never thought I would witness one.  And you know what’s so shitty about it?  If I didn’t move next to the driver.  I would have been the one how got attacked!  For the first time of my call center life I got afraid of travelling during the wee hours of the morning.  The thought of me being attacked liked that stayed in my mind for the rest of the trip.

After transferring to another jeepney to go to Pasay,  another incident occurred, not a beating mind you.  I’m talking about…..extortion!  The jeep was already in Binondo in Tondo; Manila.  The driver stopped on the red light and was waiting for the light to change.  When a man approached the driver and demanded 20 pesos.  The driver stunned couldn’t move, so the man screamed at his face. “Bente kako pahingi!” (“Give me a 20!”).  The man was already holding the throat of the driver, ready to choke to man.  The driver, reached into the till and gave a 20-peso bill to the man.  The said “Pasensya na ha! Wala na ko pamasahe.  Paminsan-minsan lang naman.” (Sorry, I don’t have money left to pay my fare.  I only do this once in a while.).  The driver ignored the man and hit the pedal.  As we where driving away, some passengers (including me) can’t help but looked at the man who threatened to strangle our driver.  The man noticed us, stopped and pointed at us, as if we were the guilty ones,  He was shouting something at us,  But because the jeepney was too far away to understand what he said.

I arrived at the office shaken by what I saw during the trip.  I couldn’t forget the incidents up to now.

Almost all call center employees, encounter similar incidents on their way to work, even non-call center employees do.  But the call center employees, have a higher chance of seeing these kind of things because of the time of our work.

The govenment should really do something about the safety of the everybody, specially nurses, call center agents and other individuals whose time of work is erratic and are forced to travel during the wee hours of the night.

What are the cops doing?

Sleeping, maybe.  I don’t know.

I didn’t see one during those times.  I think call center companies should initiate, giving transportation to all its employees to ensure a safe trip going to work.  Or maybe a car pool?!  Where agents who live in the same area can arrange to go to work together.

What do you think?