The Drivers of My Life

I hate commuting. If I were to choose one, and only one, thing that I choose to hate about this place, it would be commuting. Zamboanga spoiled me. In the old city I would take a jeepney or a tricycle to wherever and I'll be there in 20 minutes. I can walk from Ateneo to my house in under an hour. WALK! That means that I have to pass through two different barangays. Yes, all under an hour.

Here it takes me 2 hours to get to Makati from Quezon City on normal days. If there were some stupid drunk who had an accident on EDSA, my travel time can easily move up to three hours. I hate it. There's no other word for what I feel about commuting.

Drivers are important players of my day. My ride to work can be pleasant and reasonably quicker with good drivers. I probably experienced hundreds of different driving styles, but I have categorized them into three: the good driver, the driver with daddy issues and the fucked-up driver.



1. The Good Driver. Now we may have varying opinions about what a good driver should be. Some of y'all may not like fast drivers, but I do. This category is broad and forgiving. The Good Driver knows how to work the brakes. He knows when to set turn right and which lane to follow. He is confident and grasps the wheel firmly . He knows how to use the signal lights. Some good drivers may be fast and scary, but they always seem in control. Their driving gives the message: "I'm cool, doll. I'll take care of ya."

The Good Driver is hardly perfect. Throughout his life he his scrape his car or crash a fender. But he's good. He's cool. Riding with a good driver is like riding on a cloud.



2. The Driver with Daddy Issues (DWDI). Often, these drivers are newbies. They try sooo hard to be like Daddy, the way he drives him to school when he was young. But he tenses up, hits on the gas and hits a tree or a parking pole. He is a driver who will drive you nuts, a driver whose driving will cause you to wear your seatbelt a little tighter than usual and make sure that your airbags work. Your nerves are on the edge, and you're still in the driveway.

I have a theory that DWDI's are those who drink to calm their nerves and end up dead. But hey, that's just me.



3. The Fucked Up Driver (FUD). FUDs are people who simply don't care. They hit the horn and turn a sharp right and hit on the breaks when someone will get off the next stop. FUDs are reckless, and they care little about the passengers who are probably puking their guts out.

Whenever I encounter a FUD, I feel like my brain is being shaken like a mojito. I feel like telling them to go straight to hell.

Tomorrow, I will go out and pray to the Driver God for a good driver.