A JEEPNEY RIDE

As we gathered around our circular table at the pantry, my colleague started telling stories about petty theft in our city.  A cup of coffee on her right hand and a piece of star-bread on her left, she shared stories of it with intense enthusiasm.  I listened closely like the others at the table, waiting eagerly to give our own inputs of the topic just opened.  But it's almost time to get back to work, and there seemed to be no more time for the rest of us to share our own collection of "theft tales" because the story-teller as of the moment was so engrossed in imparting her story it would seem rude to interrupt.  Her manner of talking had eventually drifted me off from the story.  All I was hearing was the sound of her energy, the passion in her voice and in her eyes.  When I was able to get back to her story, she was recalling of a jeepney theft incident shared to her by her neighbor.

Jeepney theft, I thought, is not surprisingly common.  That is without regarding the reasons why petty theft is widespread in the area.  With the physical structure of and the system applied to this means of transport, it is no wonder jeepney theft is a usual example of petty theft stories among the residents of the city.  

This kind of public transport popularized in the Philippines is patterned from the jeeps the Americans brought to the country during the war times more than half a century ago.  The locals modified it by lengthening the body, putting bench seats on both sides, decorating the hood with toys, and painting the body in vivid colors.  The jeepneys have open doors behind its body and wide rectangular open windows, and thus, it's so open to petty theft we were hearing about that instant at the pantry.

When it stops near a slum area, a jeweled passenger may find her necklace or earrings snatched through the window, and culprits don't even run away. They just walk away. Amazing, huh.  You will just gape in silence out of shock and amazement.  What's worse is when you sit beside a pickpocket who seems to know how to cast a spell on you so you wouldn't notice what s/he takes from your bag before  s/he  gets off the vehicle through its open doors.   It is then agreeable that for passengers of this ride, extra care must always be practiced ---that is, presence of mind and not showing any expensive belongings that can be very tempting to the strangers around, especially to those with the motive of stealing.

But to be fair to this vehicle, it is the only affordable public transport in the city because the other one is taxi. And though there's the option of taking habal-habal ( motorcyle), its fare can be unreasonably high, not to mention that it is not allowed in the main roads of the city.

So why do I ramble about this? Because that theft story at the pantry reminds me of what I posted in wattpad.com a year or two ago.  Which sums up that sometimes, we become a victim of theft because of our own negligence.  If you have a few minutes to spare, here's my own short fiction entitled A JEEPNEY RIDE. (Click here for the link.)