close call

a december sunday shopping at divisoria was a bad idea. with my dad spreading some early christmas cash, we were off but even an early wake up call couldn't avoid the christmas crowd. i wasn't able to buy anything, not even a single string. so i decided to come back the next day, a monday, and i expect wide-open aisles.

i woke up late and went to SM north edsa for a quick stop to look for leather shoes. never saw a pair i liked. so off to divisoria then. i took a bus to monumento and then a jeepney. i was seated in front and never knew a simple choice between front and back could've been a choice between life and death...


along rizal avenue, a guy hitched a ride. he sat beside me and started talking to the driver about booze. apparently, there was a drinking session last night involving 2 bottles of generoso brandy and a few bottles more of red horse. the conversation went on while the jeepney engine was screaming. the term "reckless jeepney driver" is redundant and so i thought it's just another day in the office for everyone.

speeding through abad santos, everything was fine until a white L300 delivery van showed up. it was parked on the right side of the road but suddenly took a sharp left turn. two reckless drivers on the same piece of road was a car crash waiting to happen, but everything could've been avoided. one or two hundred meters away, you could clearly see the van doing a sharp left turn. the jeepney was not slowing down but knowing jeepney drivers, i thought he would just swerve carelessly to the left. but the jeepney was still speeding and the van was still turning left. only a few seconds left before impact, the driver pumped the brakes. the brakes did little to stop the jeepney's momentum. we were about to hit the van dead on. both my hands were braced to the dashboard. and time did slow down.

when someone had a near-death experience, you wouldn't be surprised if they say that their whole lives flashed before their eyes. my life didn't flash before my eyes when time slowed down. i kinda knew i wouldn't die. instead of my seeing the story of my life, i saw myself in a hospital bed recuperating from injuries. then a second before impact the driver swerved to the left. i heard a slam and a scraping sound afterwards. i opened my eyes and was relieved that i was still able to open my eyes.

the passengers in the back were in panic, everybody looking out for the children aboard. they were also lucky that they got out of the accident with only bruises. the driver was busy blaming the faulty brakes. faulty brakes or otherwise, i knew the cause was a faulty driver.

i quickly got out of the jeepney after the accident and took another jeepney, acting like nothing happened. only after ten minutes or so that i realized it was a close call. and i thank God that i'm still here and intact.