Good Morning

For the past 6 months, it has taken me an average of one hour and a half to 2 hours to get to work. In those 6 months, I've been able to get to work every single day without much incident.

Enter Friday-- I now live along C-5 and I've been living in the condo for a good 48 hours. My travel time is reduced to 20 minutes (with traffic). And in the span of those 48 hours, with minimized exposure on the road, I find it annoying that while I am rushing to an 8 AM meeting, my car was rear-ended at Global City en route to Rockwell.

That happened at 7:55 AM. A minute before, I looked at the clock in the center console of the car and thought to myself, "I'm gonna make it!".

A second after I felt the impact from behind, my phone rings. It was my boss calling and asking where I was.

I was still shaking and slightly frantic when I picked up up my phone from the floor where it fell after the FX rammed my trunk.

"Asan ka na?!", Jay asks.

I had no idea how I sounded and I wasn't really thinking when I answered the phone. According to Jay, this is what I said the moment I picked up: "Jay! Nabangga ako (pause) ... binangga ako!". Apparently, he found the fact that I had to qualify that I was the bumpee and not the bumper.

And once again, when I let people know that I got bumped, the first reaction I get is "Na naman?" which I find insulting because the frequency of my accidents is not as great as other people I know and second, I don't really ask to be bumped, do I?

Note: my car always get bumped from behind. This means that I am more often than not BUMPED.

My car's time in the casa will probably mean the 10th change of the bumper in the car's 8-year life.

The last bumper change was 2 months ago. That time, the car was rear-ended by an Innova.

This time, it was an FX driver who apparently wasn't able to brake in time when the light changed to red.

Now, I'm extremely careful when I drive through Global City because I know that driving through a yellow will automatically mean beating the red light. I didn't rush to the intersection when the light turned yellow and I was the first car in line when the traffic light turned red. Not wanting to rish another traffic violation, I braked. Five seconds later, FX comes smashing into the back of my car. The impact is strong enough to move the car a few inches.

And because I was in a hurry for a meeting (that I eventually wouldn't make because of the hassle of the accident), I was extremely pissed.

"Anong akala mo sa kotse ko?!? Bump car?!" I demand of him when I get down and get over the initial shock of getting hit.

The FX driver tried to reason that as a driver, he sees everything and while he saw the traffic light turn red he said he also saw the traffic enforcer signalling to go ahead.

And of course I was like, "E kung lahat pala nakikita mo, bakit hindi mo nakita yung kotse na nakatigil sa harap mo?!?!".

I hate it when people try to reason with me when it's obvious they're at fault. When I am the bumper, I am immediately apologetic.

I was annoyed enough to bring the matter all the way to the Taguig police station. And I find it annoying that these FX drivers go about driving recklessly and when they hit you all they can do is scratch their heads. And I, as a private vehicle owner am left to foot the bill and deal with the hassle that these drivers inflict on my car.

To think there was no damage to the FX because his friggin' bull bars were the ones that hit my car. And my trunk is wrecked. Jay had to tie the trunk down because as it is, it won't close.

As I told Jay when we finally met up: 1. Some people are really meant to be at work at 10. 2. Wow, it's the first time an accident of mine reached the police station.

Earlier this week while caught in horrible traffic that had me travelling 3 hours to work, I was told that traffic is not an excuse.

I guess "car accident" is as good an excuse as any.

* * *

Thank God my day was made so much better by lunch at this Thai carinderia off Rockwell with authentic Thai food. And cheap, no less!

* * *

I feel though like I don't want to drive anymore.

Pucha.

3 weeks ago, I got caught for coding.

2 weeks ago, I got stopped for reckless driving.

Last Friday, I got rear-ended.

And yesterday, while taking my car to the casa for an estimate, I got apprehended for not wearing a seatbelt.

Malas.

* * *

Saturday, my parents took a trip to the province to clean out the house of my grand aunt who passed away last January.

They took home a bunch of old coins, my grandfather's old army hat and a handful of faded photographs. It is the pictures that fascinate me the most.

The pictures are a glimpse into the past, and added images of the grandfather I never knew and the grandmother I never really had enough time to get to know.

This one is my grandfather and grandmother at a 1947 New Year's eve party at Manila Hotel.

I study the sepia photos wishing that they were colored. I try to search through any remnant of the past to get a better idea of the kind of people my grandparents were.

A lot of people tell me I look like my dad. Some say my mom. Others say I look like my grandmother's eldest brother.

I try to find myself in the features of my grandparents-- something of me in their smile or in their eyes. It'd be interesting to see any semblance of them in me. I don't find much, sadly.