When my prof. told us to write about a fight that we’ve witnessed in the month of June, I was kind of troubled. It seemed really remote for me to witness a fight because if you really think about it, how often do you really get to see a fight? Little did I know that on one uneventful day, I was not only going to be able to witness a fight, I would be in one.
One afternoon, my brother and I were on our way home from school. We were in a hurry to get home because we were supposed to hear mass with my lolo and lola at 6:30 pm and it was already 6:40pm. So upon reaching the corner of Maceda St.which was near our street, we decided to take a tricycle and rent the whole ride so that our travel going home would be faster. This was called “special.” The usual fare per person is five pesos and if you took the special, you would have to pay fifteen pesos. You pay for all the three passengers that the tricycle would be carrying.
The driver agreed and he brought us home. When we got down in front of our house, we paid the amount of fifteen pesos to the driver. To our surprise, the driver said that the fare was twenty pesos. I politely asked why. Was it because of the fare increase that was taking place all over the city? The driver said it was because there were two of us in the tricycle. He charged us ten pesos each. I argued that this was the first time I have encountered such a rule. My brother and I have ridden on quite a number of times under the “special” and the fare was only fifteen pesos. The driver then answered in a foul tone that the jeep fare had already increased and that this was only fair to him. By this time, I was really getting irritated. For me, I understood that these guys had to make a living, but they did not have to resort to unfair means by overcharging people and especially by being in such an irate mood. I quickly answered back to the driver; “jeep ba kayo? Di naman nagtaas yung pamasahe ng tricycle e.” he got even more irate and answered that the rule of “special” was always ten pesos per person. I answered that that was ridiculous! This was the first time I have heard such a rule. He was just trying to put one over us.
By this time, tempers were starting to really flare up and I was getting ready for the eventuality of the driver getting off his tricycle and starting a fistfight, so I put my bag down and I was already looking around for any object that I could use to defend myself. As this developed, my brother was silent with surprise at how fast an incident as simple as paying for the fare could turn to such a big fight. Luckily I noticed that the tricycle didn’t have a body number, which was registered with the tricycle association in our place. I asked for the tricycle number and as soon as I finished asking, the driver was getting back on his tricycle and was saying that it was “ok na.” He was scared that I would report this incident and that he would get a sanction and wouldn’t be able to work. He gained an extra five pesos from my brother and I but he would have lost a lot more if he got suspended. With this probably on his mind, he hurriedly started his tricycle and sped away.
By this time, I was still really angry and I really wanted to punch the driver but cooler heads prevailed and my brother told me that it wasn’t worth it. So as the driver was speeding off, I just shouted that I would report him to the tricycle association and tell them what had happened. After all, he wasn’t even registered. He was a colorum.