ON DRIVING

Yey! Sa wakas nawala na rin 'yung fear ko of driving.

During the break, I made sure that I was able to drive the car throughout the village for at least an hour. Problema ko na lang is yung parking. Tsk. Sa ngayon, nahihirapan pa rin akong magdrive ng pabaliktad---in the sense na di ko pa naviview kaagad kung saan pupunta ang kotse papalikod kung ang manibela ay iikutin ko papakanan, etc. Hindi ko pa rin naipapark ng maayos ang kotse sa garahe. 'Yun kasi ang kundisyon ni Pare. Kailangan ko munang matuto magpark bago ko puwedeng ilabas ang kotse sa village. Hay naku. Sa October na nga lang ulit.

Ay oo nga pala. Nasabi ko na dati na may driver's license na ako. Yey! Non-pro driver na ako. BUT I still have this guilty feeling inside me (until now) dahil sabihin na natin na hindi ko tinake ang "usual" procedures of acquiring a new driver's license in our region's LTO. Medical exam pa lang, passed na ako kaagad sa urine & blood test. I passed the licensing exam easily, in contrary to a lot of others who failed it a number of times. I didn't touched the steering wheel, yet I was able to pass the practical driving exam. WHY? We had contacts, and ayun. They played their part so well that it was as if I really REALLY went through all the procedures fairly, just like the others.

Wala lang. Sabi ng iba, reality iyan na kailangan mo nang tanggapin. At least I got help from them daw. I've also learned that a lot of my friends also had the same "aid" from some officers in the LTO. Kasi kung wala sila, baka hanggang ngayon wala pa rin kaming (akong) driver's license.

Pero 'yun nga. Isa kasi ako sa mga taong gusto na ang lahat ay sumusunod ng maayos sa mga itinakdang patakaran ng mga nasa posisiyon. Lumaki akong tinuruan ng "magandang asal," ng mga iba't ibang rules and regulations na dapat nating alamin at sundin. Nahulma ng mga iba't ibang theories 'yung utak kong mag-isip ng isang idealistic space where I could live in. Sa sobrang idealistic ng mga paniniwala ko, nagiging impraktikal na ako minsan. Hay tama na ito. Nawawala ako sa main point ko. Basta, 'yung concern ko lang eh 'yung fact na ang daming nangyayaring pandadaya na nagaganap even at our local level. Ako mismo dumaan sa proseso ng pandaraya sa LTO ng aming region. Kawawa naman ang mga taong naghintay ng napakatagal na panahon para lamang makuha ang kanilang mga lisensya, to think na ako--AKO na super unexperienced-can't-even-park driver ay nabigyan na KAAGAD ng lisensya. Wala pa akong restriction that I need to have my glasses on when I drive to think that I've had astigmatism since prep. Tapos, agad-agad lang nilang pinapapass ito?

Di lang sa LTO ko ito napansin. Sa DFA rin. One day, my family went to the DFA to renew our passports and para na rin gawan ng passport si kapatid. Again, we had contacts. So, instead of the usual 12-hour tambay in the DFA, we were just there for two hours. Sobrang jampacked pa ng office with people trying to get their passports. Sobrang nakakaguilty kasi halata naman na ang late naming dumating, ngunit kami pa rin yung naunang matapos. Plus, we entered the office of the head pa! Tsk. Ano ba ito? People fall in line as early as 4am outside the DFA office. Some even sleep outside the office just to have their passports at least by the afternoon. Grabeh ito.

At malamang nagaganap din ito sa iba't ibang offices, mapa-government pa man ito o private company.

Hay naku. nagBLAH na naman Ako. Pero naman oh, sorry PARE kung sinasabi ko ito. Pero mali talaga 'yung ginawa natin. OO, mas naging "hayahay" tayo sa ginawa natin that time, BUT then we have to think of the others who followed the procedure well. Kaya nga nagkakaroon ng problema ang bansa. May mga taong nagtatakda ng mga patakarang kailangang sundin ng bawat mamamayan ngunit sila mismo (at ang mga taong close sa kanila) ay ang siyang mga taong di sumusunod dito. Wala ring efficiency. Tsk.

Bata lang ako. Wala pang pangalan. Wala pang ganun kalaking imlpluwensiya sa lugar na tinitirahan ko--moreover, sa region na ito, moreover sa bansa. Wala lang ako, pero at least nag-iisip ako ng ganito.

Narealize ko lang ngayon: ang olats ko pala. I'm criticizing the things I have observed in the LTO and DFA office. Yet still, I have my license securely placed in my wallet right now. Moreover, I would not like the feeling that my license would be taken away from me, because I didn't followed the licensing procedures fairly (to think that I'm able to drive NOW, well except park of course :P). I wouldn't like the feeling that we were prevented to go outside the country because we didn't follow the procedures well. I'm afraid that those people heading those government offices would lose their jobs because they may really be the ones who are worthy of those positions at least as of now (naging sobrang mabait lang sila kaya sila nagpapasingit ng ibang tao). Hay ewan. Too serious. I miss my highschool self.

The more we get to learn about things, the more we tend to feel unsatisfaction and depression as we realize that these events widely occur in our surroundings. Children view the world as an idealistic place full of fun, joy, and Santa Claus. Once they've learned the things about life. then their idealistic world slowly degrades into that sad reality. Parang yung mall na heaven para sa atin ay isa palang napakahigpit na lugar kung saan di mo malalasap ang lahat ng sarap ng buhay sapagkat ang lahat ng ito pala ay may kapalit. Everything is commodified, ika nga.

Shatap. Nonesense na ito. Forgive me for this. Ang pangit ng coherence + grammar. Parang di ako nag gradeschool + highschool + first year! Pero the fact na nag-iisip ako ng ganito makes me feel good. Mature.

Parang may wisdom na sinend sa akin from God above. Chos!

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Classes na bukas.