After a very long time, I rode the bus once again.
It’s still amazing whenever I commute alone—walking in my phase, moving as fast as everybody else or just keeping it slow until the next uncrowded vehicle.
I like looking at everyone else’s face while wondering how their day had been, is it good? tiring? unpleasant? exciting?
But often, I see a tired numb face. I want to cry for them sometimes, it’s just….sad.
But at the same time, I salute all of them, I admire how resilient they are, how can they just keep going and going and going. If only those capable can see how these people are fighting for their lives.
If only those who have the power could understand what living is – for these people beneath them but only care for their thirst for recognition and wealth. It’s the reality I’m having trouble accepting. I just don’t how the world even reached this point. Humanity dying, unreal things evolving, fake relationships over genuine connections, and we seem to just forget what truly matters.
Going back to that bus I was in, beside me was a girl, a student.
She politely asked the conductor to drop her off at SM North but the conductor said, “Trinoma lang tayo, lalakad pa pa-SM North”.
And the girl said, “Sige po pababa nalang po ako pag SM North na po.”
I quickly recognized that she’s never been to either Trinoma or SM North. So, I asked her if she knew the bridge between the two malls and if she knew she could cross that and didn’t need to walk by the road below. She just smiled and said “Hindi po, pwede pong pasabi kapag nandun na po tayo?”
And of course, I told her when to hop off that bus but what surprised me was what she did after. I didn’t mean to check/look if she was going the right way but I accidentally looked at the window and she was there, still standing, smiling and waving goodbye at me.
It’s another commuting story for me. I told myself, that was just ME! That innocent-looking girl, that’s exactly me a few years ago.
I never thought how the world can change you.
But that moment gave me hope. For some reason, it’s nice to know that there are still pure and genuine people out there.
There’s still hope.
