One afternoon, on my way from work somewhere in Katipunan, I rode a rickety jeep to Aurora Boulevard where I would take another jeep to UP. From UP, I take a leisurely walk through Ylanan to Commonwealth bus stop. Whenever I ride jeepneys, I always have coins in my chest pocket to spare me from "terrorizing" the driver to give me the change especially when they forget to return the change--P8.00 from Katips to Aurora, then another P8.00 from Aurora to UP or a total of P16.00.

That time, I had two (2) 5-peso and 6-peso coins. As soon as I boarded the jeep, I gave my fare. I was the lone passenger at the back, so I had to get near the driver. He accepted the fare. I remember I gave him four (4) coins, which I was fiddling with my hands even before I flagged him down. I realized the jeep was really rickety and could pass for a rolling coffin. Not only that--the driver drove so fast like a Ferrari (you get the drift?)--or perhaps that's too exaggerated. LOL! [Very, very] Soon enough, we stopped and parked in the jeepney terminal under the Katipunan flyover. While stepping down, I thought I heard him mumble some words which I could not decipher because I was listening to FM radio through my headset [I was tuned in to 99.5RT waiting for the Disenchanted Kingdom show of King DJ Logan, Marf, and Cleo.] I Ignored him. Be that as it may, I thankfully went down that nothing untoward happened to me, but in my mind, his jeepney sucks! He should retire it already--and why is King DJ Logan not on air yet?!

Then I mechanically went to join the queue for UP-Ikot. The barker usually collects the fare in advance so I gave the rest of the coins in my pocket to the jeepney barker collecting the fares. To my surprise, he returned to me two (2) 1-peso coins and gave me a change of another 2 pesos. How come?!!! I was confused! Then I realized, I was giving him two (2) 5-peso coins and 2-peso coins or P12.00! Then all of a sudden--"Ting!!!!" I realized I paid the poor driver of the rickety-rolling-coffin-jeep with only 4 pesos for a supposedly 8-peso fare! And---that is why he was mumbling some words when I got down! My conscience bothered me so much for being such a cheater. LOL! Anyway, I just assured myself it was just the right price for a rolling coffin!

But still, my conscience was bothering me! Good thing, the jeep to UP was nice enough and was amused by its special instruction to its passengers:



It took my fancy and I brought out my phone to take a photo. Another lady who saw me followed and took her BB phone to take a photo too. There was a short commotion due to our photography session! LOL! Then the lady seated in front got curious and asked what was happening. Then she even leaned back to see what it was all about. She giggled with what she read. She asked the driver if there really were passengers shouting "Darna!" when they want to get off. Indeed, according to the driver, there were.

When the lady in front had to get down at the jeepney stop in front of the UP Shopping Center, she shouted, "Darna!" This caught the driver by surprise that he immediately stepped on the brake [good thing it was the brake pad!]. We should get mad by almost falling off our seats, but instead, we all laughed and smiled!

The girl in front was apologetic though.

It felt good and I was still smiling on my way home.

Indeed, riding jeepneys can be fun in the Philippines!






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