The War of the Roads

Aaron likes to walk...

He must have grown up a 'walker' because not often do I find myself taking public transportation, but rather, we walk. We travel through the city by foot, eschewing the horde of jeepneys, tricycles, motorbikes & taxis, all vying for his piso. And so I walk with him, taking just one Jeepney in th emidst of running errands to three locations, walking over 4 miles.

He has the scars to prove his mileage, right on his calf from a tricycle running into his leg. I can see how as the tricycle taxis whiz around us, their two-stroke engines a sharp staccato, like machine gun fire as they push & shove their way between jeepneys. Jeepneys, who think they are motorcyles cutting in and out of traffic, even into the opposite lane to get ahead, blocking traffic going both ways for a block. Interspersed the lone Toyota Camry (2008!) and Mercedes Benz owned by the rich who somehow keep their vehicles scratch free. Perhaps their windows are bullet and scratch proof. Aaron has told me of a company which rents out bullet proof vehicles for use by the rich, mostly chinese-Filipino familyies, for protection against kidnapping. Some 200 kidnappings a year, some kids getting kidnapped multiple times... routine extortion of money.

Aaron and I continue walking, though we wioll take one Jeepney back towards Botocon, where home is. Bent low in a short seat as we wait for our stop passing money between the driver and the passengers; the driver doling out change with one hand as he drives with the other. Aaron yells out our stop and he swerves to a halt and we continue on our way. Walking.

Aaron likes walking.