22

I have less than 30 minutes to go to my interview appointment at Ayala. On the second jeep I rode, an unfortunate event happened...

Place: Along Kalayaan avenue, Makati City

Characters: Mr. Driver, Mr. Nice, Ms. Righty, Ms. Confused, Ms. Late (me).

Setting: Mr. Nice was seated in front of the jeep. Ms. Confused was seated on the left side while Ms. Late and Ms. Righty were on the right side.

Along the way, Ms. Righty gave her fare to Mr. Driver. Since I was near the entrance of the jeep, I asked Ms. Righty to pass my fare of P50.00 to Mr. Driver. Ms. Confused also gave her fare to Mr. Driver. As accustomed to the unwritten code of giving changes, Mr. Driver first gave Mr. Nice his change since he was the first one to give his fare. He also gave my change of P42.00. Ms. Confused thinking it was her fare, asked Mr. Driver for her change..

Ms. Confused: Manong yung sukli po sa isang singkwenta?

Mr. Driver: Ilan po itong bente?

Ms. Confused: Singkwenta po yung pera ko.

At this point, seeing that there IS a commotion building up, Mr. Driver stopped the jeep along the road. Patiently, Mr. Driver explained the situation...

Mr. Driver: Eto lang kasi yung pera dito, dalawang singkwenta at isang bente. Yung isang singkwenta siya yung nagbigay (looking at Mr. Nice). Yung isang singkwenta at bente, galing na dito yan sa likod.

Ms. Righty: Sa kanya yung singkwenta (looking at Ms. Late). Sigurado ako dun kasi ako yung nag-abot.

Ms. Late: Akin po yung singkwenta.

Ms. Confused: Singkwenta din po pera ko.

Ms. Righty: Hindi. bente lang pera mo miss. Sure ako dun. Nakita ko bente lang yung binigay mo. Bente lang talaga miss.

Ms. Confused: Hindi po, singkwenta talaga pera ko kasi sukli yan sakin sa taxi.

Mr. Nice: Baka naman mali yung sukli sa inyo sa taxi.

Ms. Confused: Hindi, kasi tinignan ko pa nga yun eh.

Mr. Driver: Bente lang talaga yung isang pera. Kung susuklian kita, abonado pa ko nyan. P22.00 pa abono ko. Bigay ko na lang sa yo yung pera mo tapos wag ka na lang magbayad.

Ms. Confused: Singkwenta talaga pera ko.

Ms. Righty: Hindi miss. Bente talaga.

Ms. Late: Bente po talaga. Nakita ko din po kasi yun yung binigay nyo.

Ms. Righty: Hindi naman namin siya kaanu-ano kaya bakit naman namin siya kakampihan. Bente lang talaga miss. Hindi naman kami nagsisinungaling.

Ms. Confused: (Looking for her money in her pockets) Hindi rin naman ako nagsisinungaling. Singkwenta talaga pera ko. Kasi yan yung sukli sa kin sa taxi.

Ms. Righty: Hindi talaga miss. Bakit naman kami magsisinungaling... Kasi miss tignan mo, bariya lang yung kinikita niya tapos magaabono pa siya.

Ms. Confused: Singkwenta talaga...

Ms. Righty: Bente lang talaga miss. Baka mali sukli sa inyo nung taxi. (To Mr. Driver) Bente talaga yun. Siya na may problema dun kasi mali sukli sa kanya. Problema na nya yun. Ibigay nyo na lang ho yung pera nya.

Mr. Driver: O miss, sila nagsabi nyan. Sila nakakita. Ibibigay ko nalang pera mo. (Getting the P20.00) O, eto...

Ms. Righty: O, ayan oh (She got the bill and put it on Ms. Confused's lap).

Mr. Nice: O, eto miss, hati na lang tayo (He gave Ms. Confused P10.00).

Ms. Confused: Hindi, may pera naman ako.

Ms. Righty: (Got the P10.00 and put it on Ms. Confused's lap) eto oh.

In the end, Mr. Driver lost P8.00 fare of Ms. Confused but it's better than paying P22.00 as her change. Ms. Confused still thinks her money was P50.00. She's not very happy about it. Mr. Nice lost P10.00 since he gave it to Ms. Confused to make her feel better but it did not work. Ms. Righty continued to talk to someone over her mobile phone. Ms. Late was late for 15 minutes. But she has a gut feeling she'll get the job.