Pentium 1 Drivers

Last Sunday, my driver of 4 weeks said “uuwi muna ako kasi maglalaba ako”. We said yes.
Monday, he didn’t show-up, no text or call. He didn’t answer our calls. It was Late afternoon when Edmund got hold of him, kesyo wala daw masakyan. He told his colleagues, basta absent lang daw sya. Kung hindi ka naman maiinis. Maximum tolerance na lang.

So I borrowed a driver from Ford EDSA. He drove for me the whole day. One day with him is one too many.
He was given instructions to pick me up from the village’s admin office near the gate. It’s inside the subdivision so he should not go out of the gate. He drove past the gate. That’s why he was 30 minutes missing. He found his way back eventually.
I told him to turn left at EDSA, he moved to the extreme right and almost sideswiped a motorbike. Sya pa medyo galit. Within two minutes of riding with him, napagalitan ko na agad.
He didn’t know where Buendia is, where Ayala is. When I told him to turn left, he would turn right, when I told him to turn right at the corner, he would go straight.
He has long hair. Maya’t maya inaalog nya ulo nya to fix his hair.
Once I glanced at my phone. When I looked, we turned right instead of going straight. When I told him to go straight and make a left turn at the corner, he almost turned right going to Poveda. Buti na lang I looked. I was so tired watching him drive. Gusto ko nang agawin yung manubela at ako na lang ang magmaneho. Eto naman alalay ko, sabi ko ituro nya kung saan kami pupunta. Wala ring pakinabang. Hindi nagsasalita. Pagdating dito sa village, dumiretso instead of kakanan and my aide just sat there not saying anything. I wanted to squeeze their necks.

I told him to go straight, then turn left at the next traffic light. I thought he understood me.
I looked at my bag and got my lipstick. Before I knew it, he was turning left at the next street, not at the traffic light. When I told him DIRETSO! He just drove off without looking if we’re going to hit the other vehicles. We almost hit a car!

After my meting at Coffee Bean in Capitol Commons, I thought this would already be an easy drive going home. When I told him to go straight and turn left at Ortigas. I closed my eyes to relax.
While we’re turning left, the Pasig barangay tanod went in the middle of the road and stopped us. Parang gustong magpasagasa.
Wala daw kaming ILAW!
A—-“Ha? hindi mo inon yung ilaw?”
Driver—-“Hindi ko napindot”
The barangay tanod started a litany of violations and threatened to confiscate his drivers license. I intervened by rolling down the window. I told him pasensya na kasi first day lang nung driver. Ang haba-haba nung mga sinasabi nung barangay. O MMDA ba sila? I wanted to go home, I was very tired. Gusot ko tikitan na nya para makauwi na kami.
Tanod—–“Titikitan ko na sya”.
A———“Sige, tikitan mo”. Then I rolled up my window.
He said some things to the driver then let us go. I thought he issued him a ticket. He didn’t. He probably changed his mind.

My driver moved the Explorer a little bit to the center of the road and stopped while talking to my aide “Di ba naka bukas ang ilaw natin”. “Tapos sumagot naman yun isa . In the meantime, traffic was building up kasi nakahalang kami sa gitna ng kalye habang itong dalawang kasamahan ko na Pentium 1 and 2 eh ina-analyze pa kung bakit hindi nakabukas yung headlights o kung nakabukas daw.
A—–“Hoy, umandar na tayo, nakaka-abala tayo sa gitna….”
My God, these guys are oblivious to their surroundings.
Pagdating sa bahay, I gave the driver some money. I didn’t ask him to come back. I’d rather stay home than let him drive for me.

Yesterday, my driver showed up. He arrived at 11 am. Cool. Parang ayaw ko na syang makita.

Today, we went to Tagaytay. He made several dangerous turns and cuts. The worst was when he tried to overtake a vehicle when there’s a double solid line, winding road and with a woman crossing. I screamed. I told him “relax ka lang, hindi naman tayo nagmamadali. Baka maaksidente pa tayo”.

Ang dami pa nyang mali today.
He probably enjoyed driving the Explorer. It’s smaller and easier to navigate. Palusut-lusot sya. When we reached C5, we encountered about a dozen motorcycle riders, nagka-sabay-sabay sila.
I was expecting my driver would slow down and keep a safe distance from the bikes. Aba hindi, nakatutok pa. I told him to slow down and stay away from the motorbikes. Keep a safe distance, baka madanggil namin. Kakainis.

I thought I could relax after we entered the village gate. Hindi rin. When he turned right at our street, he stepped on the gas. We were running too fast, the road was downhill and there’s a big hump.
My head almost hit the Explorer’s ceiling. Pati yung mga saging, papaya, talong, upo at kalabasa, lumipad din. I was so pissed. Hindi daw nya napansin. He didn’t say sorry. Araw-araw dumadaan kami dito, and even if there’s no hump, when you’re turning, you should slow down.

If I have a choice I don’t want to ride with him anymore. I don’t feel comfortable. I think he doesn’t enjoy his work and I don’t enjoy being his passenger either. He doesn’t need work. His wife and daughter are teachers. His son I think is taking up law. He has a daughter graduating in nursing. Mahuhusay ang mga anak. He must be a very good father, not driver.