The conversation started out fairly typical just catching up on events in each of our lives. The conversation eventually moved towards schooling. She was telling me about her college workload, mentioning that it was becoming increasingly time-consuming for her. So after a few further questions, she explained to me that if she wants to avoid spending the majority of her waking hours sitting in the back of a jeepney stuck in traffic she has to wake up at 4 am in order to attend her college classes which begin shortly after 8 am.
I think she could read the shocked expression on my face, so she reasoned with me why leaving that early was necessary. She went into stories of missing entire classes in her early college days because of traffic. Also being stuck having to squeeze into jeepneys and buses filled way beyond their capacity.
The plague of city traffic engulfing Metro Manila
It turns out that everyday Filipinos within Metro Manila are dealing with the prospect of having to experience daily commute times of several hours in order to get to their workplace each day.
People like my acquaintance are choosing to leave home extremely early hours in order to beat the morning rush. Although this means arriving at your destinations hours ahead of time. The early arrival is a more appealing outcome when you consider the alternative of spending hours in the back of a jeepney.
People do feel compelled to raise the argument alluding to the fact that traffic can be used by Filipinos as an excuse in place of their lack of organisation in their day. Though people having to endure these extreme commute times is a problem which has gone beyond the individual.
I think it’s a safe assumption to say that a large majority of people are not enthusiastic about their work. When you add these commute times into the equation you end up with the result being a very dissatisfied population.
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