What I learned from a Taxi Driver

My mom and I were outside Robinsons, hoping to get a taxi as soon as possible when, a Sher-lyn unit came into view. We tried to go ahead of the college students waiting for a tazi too, and we were successful. The moment we went out of the Robinsons Driveway, the taxi driver started to talk about how insensitive people are nowadays to the traffic rules. He saw a bunch of people right in front of the mall, trying to get a taxi. You see, taxi drivers are not allowed to load or unload there, it would just cause more traffic jam. And if a taxi driver was caught, as the taxi driver said, they would be asked to pay a fee AND take a seminar regarding traffic rule-following or something like that. What's more is that if a taxi driver was not accepted in the first batch of 50 in the seminar, he'd have to take the next one, the next day. Until then, he could not drive the taxi. Anyway, the taxi driver was old, probably 60 or so, and he obviously had a lot of experience. He and my mom continued to talk about how people here in the City could not maintain a little discipline. He soon revealed to us that he is from Davao. He then continued to tell us of the differences Davao and Iloilo have. Here in Iloilo City, people would just cross the streets even though they know they're not supposed to. We would just throw our trash anywhere we like, even though there's already a law against it. Here, we would try to catch up in riding a jeep in the middle of the road. We would have drunkards party all night, even acting all drunk and hazy during the day.
But in Davao, everything's different. According to the taxi driver, there are only but a few traffic enforcers there, yet they all manage to follow the law. Why is that so? It turns out that if the person next to you would just litter, you can turn that person in to the police and receive money in exchange. That seems cool. Why can't we do that here too? There, everyone follows the rules. Nobody would dare to stray from the laws. There, they have a separate place for jeepneys to unload and another place for them to load. There, nightlife is only until 10:00, and so is the selling of beer. There, you're not allowed to drink beer in public, instead, you should bring it to your home and drink there. The mayor there is loved by the people. He would also go around the city on his motorcycle without any guards or police following him. If there would be a traffic jam, he would be the one to do the traffic enforcing himself. He imposes laws, especially traffic laws, is because his mother was once arrested for crossing the street! Imagine! The officials here, he said, are not standing up and making a change that well. They should strive harder in keeping our laws, because without it, there would be chaos.

I really couldn't believe how different these two places are. I realized that the place I call 'home' is full of undisciplined people compared to Davao. Well, all I could say is that in time, Iloilo City will prosper and though we couldn't be as disciplined as those in Davao, we'll still survive.

So these are the things I learned from the taxi driver. It's sad that we never got to know his name. I do hope I'll run in to him again. I just wanna know more!