Jeepney Ride From Hell

Riding in the local jeepneys is the least expensive way to travel the longer distances around here. It’s not always a pleasant trip, but normally it’s not so bad. I have not ridden on a jeepney in quite some time, several years in fact, but on the 26th of July of this year, I did. There was a party way, way on the other side of town at a friend’s house and it was a friend’s party that I just had to show up for. This friend, Pete, has been very nice to my wife and me since we’ve known him and I thought it would just be rude not to show up.

Several of us were going to meet up and travel there together, but due to other circumstance, it didn’t turn out that way. Half of the people going got sick with the little bug we got going around here. I arrived at the jeepney station alone. I was waiting on 2 people, Steve and his wife Marlou. The ride to the barangay where he lives takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour to get to. It was an early party and it was determined that to get the best and the freshest food, we should arrive by 10:30 am. Our plan was to leave no later than 9:30. Of course, it didn’t go as planned. Steve and Marlou were late. I told them that I would not wait past 9:30. I actually could have gotten a free ride to the area, but I opted to wait for them because they have never been to San Joaquin before.

The jeepneys, I was told, were supposed to leave every 15 minutes. They do if they are full. If they are not full, they wait until they get at least almost full. The next jeepney did not leave until 10:30. It was just about time to leave when Steve and Marlou showed up. The jeepney was mostly full, but it wasn’t too bad. We ended up picking several people up along the way and it eventually got full. I can handle that. I was stuffed in there like a sardine, but it’s okay. Then we stopped to pick up some construction material. They placed that on top of the jeepney. Two more people got on. The helpers (hanging on the back of the jeepney), pulled out a little bench for them to sit on.

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