Flood Can’t See Me

Arrgghh! I hate it when you exhort all your efforts to go to school during a heavy downpour only to find out that classes were suspended just as you entered the gates. 

Imagine how much I had to endure just to go to school. First, I struggle to delay my gratification of sleep, constantly reminding myself that my Rizal class starts at 7am. As I came into full consciousness, I see the clock’s hands point to 6:30, which gives me only half an hour to brush up. I resort to sacrifice and skip my breakfast, put on my uniform and hurriedly walk across the street to ride the jeep. Breaking news: THERE WERE NO JEEPNEYS! Arrgggh! 

Still aiming to arrive at school before 7am, I succumbed to the extortionist ways of the golden tongued pedicab driver who kept prodding me to drive me to UST for 60 pesos – that’s double the price if I rode the tricycle and about nine times the fair if I rode the jeep. Are there existing laws that cover up against these types of abuses? Can pedicab drivers be reported to the LTFRB? Can this be considered an abuse to my right to transportation? Enlighten me on this.

As the driver dropped me in Navarra St. (where the flood is still less than knee length), I had to put up with the flood and walk along the murky waters of Dapitan street. I winged it anyway, like a natural student of UST, formed to the core and made steadfast for these situations. At the sidewalk, I could see hesitant faces of freshmen, unsure of whether to dive or just keep calm and stay stranded. By the looks of it, they’ll choose the latter. I then theorize that the point of being stranded due to floods is not a hapless, uncontrollable situation but rather a choice – you can always do something, brave through the waves to avoid getting fixated from where you stand. This is only applicable is if the will is strong and if the disgust threshold is just as high.  

 After overcoming the hardships of finding something to ferry me to school and overcoming the disgust of walking in the flood, I reached the gates of UST. The guard was just announcing that classes were suspended. Great, now I have to figure out how to go home. Arrrgghhh!