I don’t know why I am even blogging about them because they don’t really deserve a big applause from me. I am not generalizing but the few times I encountered some of them, it was all a fiasco.
Men on two wheels – either on motorbike or on bicycles, take your pick. Not long ago,I blogged about someone whom my family and I saw right after we went out of the church for a Sunday mass. Our car was sandwiched between two motorbikes. I cringed at the thought of a whole family riding on a motorbike, obviously the father , without a helmet was behind what looked like a three-year old kid, and behind him was obviously the wife with a baby between them. Even my daughter was shaking her head when she saw them. Our minds were full of “what ifs”. What an irresponsible way to have your family exposed to dangers on the road, I really can’t imagine.
Four years ago when my dad was in the hospital my brother and my niece were hit by over speeding motorcycles in a span of a week. My brother and his family were just vacationing from the US because dad was so ill by then. One morning, he and my oldest brother went out to buy hot pan de sal for our breakfast at the hospital. The little bakery was just across the hospital but it took them so long so I called up my oldest brother on the phone. Imagine my surprise when they said that they were at the emergency room because my youngest brother was hit by a motorcycle. As usual, the driver was trying to beat the red light and he hit my brother’s left leg in the process. The police told us to file a case but my brother just shook his head because that time, they were leaving in a week and he didn’t want hassles on their trip. So the driver got excused but the damage was done. My brother was in a binder when his family took their flight back to the US a few days after. A week after that, my niece was just crossing the street to buy mineral water and again, she was hit by a motorcycle. I was shouting at the hospital emergency room when I saw her on bended knee, with the bones kind of twisted. Thank God there was no fracture. I talked to one of the directors of the hospital to suggest that they coordinate with the Pasig City government to put an overpass for the safety of their patients and pedestrians crossing Ortigas Extension.
When hubby and I are out on the streets, I also cringe every time I see people on motorbikes getting in and out of traffic with total disregard to the other cars and vehicles who are sometimes just a hair’s breath near them. One can’t deny that most traffic accidents nowadays compose of people on motorcycles, slightly drunk sometimes or are on a race with other bikers on the road. Such total irresponsibility, if you ask me.
Now, here’s what made me hate them all the more the last few days compounding my first thought and idea that they are the kings of the road. Our street is presently under construction, being cemented and all. The workers have put a sign at both ends that says, ROAD UNDER REPAIR with a further instruction to pass through another street, a little longer than ours. Just imagine, the cement was still wet and they insist on passing through the very same area. My neighbors and I are like disgruntled police force just telling them to avoid the wet area that was just cemented. I am beginning to think that bike riders are the worst on the road, uncouth and most of the times, undisciplined.
I wonder why some of us Filipinos are so fond of short-cuts. They keep complaining that the government is doing nothing to ease their plight and yet, they are these same people who completely disregard simple rules. I tell you guys, you have no right to complain when you are the first to break the rules. It’s the reason why we are not advancing like other third world countries which we have left behind many years ago. Some of us don’t know the meaning of the word discipline. Some of us just act for our mere convenience. When you want something that other people would emulate, then be an example. Case in point, throwing candy wrappers and cigarette butts on the road, haphazardly, some people do this every time without even thinking that those trash would go back to them in case of flood.
I remember this old adage back in Pres. Marcos time, “sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disciplina ang kailangan”. Most of us are sorely lacking in this, that is why we never prosper. We deserve a better Philippines, don’t you think?
Dreams And Escapes 