How to Survive an Extortion

I just experienced an extortion worthy of an aneurysm.

At 1700H I was heading back to school after buying some costumes for our organization from Divisoria. Vendors were all over the place, all rushing to meet their quota. Street children wandering around and about waiting for some charity from the purses of passers-by. The traffic-catalyst jeepneys’ machine buzzing all over the place. Ah, the typical scenery you'll expect from this part of Manila.

"Oy boss, sa UST ka ba?", a pedicab driver said from my side.

I gave the driver a glance. I was about to walk past him when I heard him say,

"Halika boss, bente lang sa Espana"

Thinking that 20 pesos would just be a little addition to my supposed fare, say, if I rode two jeepneys, I decided to ride the pedicab back to school.

And here's what I learned:

1. A super friendly attitude from the driver is one of the cardinal signs of impending extortion.
2. A driver who talks a lot, especially about his hardships in life (from the death of his grandfather to his leg pains), is the second cardinal sign of impending extortion.
3. A matter-of-fact attitude really helps when riding pedicabs. You don’t initiate conversations with the driver. He talks, you answer. One question, one response. Do not elaborate further. I hypothesize that the more you talk to them, the more prone that you will succumb to their manipulation
4. Let the driver drop you in front of the gates of your school. That way extortion could be minimized since you can always ask the guard  if there are any problems you need help with
5. Act that you don't have more money just in case the driver asks for a bigger payment. That way he can’t demand more and you prevent yourself from unreasonable prices.
6. Respecting older people is undoubtedly a good virtue. But if they already are abusive, they do not deserve the respect. Learn to be stubborn sometimes and fight for your rights.
7. Lastly, it doesn't always pay to be nice. Develop those canines and be ready to use them when needed.

I handed my fifty pesos to the driver upon arriving at school. 

“Boss, kulang pa yan…”

“Ha? Kala ko po ba bente lang?”

“Dos bente sabi ko ser.”

“Anong dos bente?”

“Two hundred twenty.”

“Grabe naman kuya, masyado namang mahal”, as I tried to argue further

“Hinde, masyadong malayo kasi tong UST eh, ang hirap nga eh”

*Insert more haggling here*

Finally, I handed over additional 200 pesos. He gave back my 50 peso bill and my change.

While I was entering the campus, I felt really, really bad. I felt that I didn’t have control over the situation I was in. I don’t usually give up my rights and let anything like this pass by without a proper argument but that moment, I succumbed to what the driver wanted.

Oh gullible me.

Minutes later, I had this song randomly played from the playlist on my phone. I couldn’t remember if I was even the one who placed that song in my playlist since I am not really a fan of that kind of music but for that moment, hearing it was sort of comforting. Maybe it was divine intervention.

I've learned my lesson and this extortion shall not happen again.