How hard is it to engage in road rage?

Simple: just go with the flow.

Last night, I did what I thought I could (and would) never do – shout at an MMDA traffic enforcer.

Traffic can really be frustrating, specially if you see the cause of the snarl. For the past 3 weeks or so, traversing EDSA from Boni to Shaw takes about 30 minutes, which is normally 5 to 10 minutes. There are two reasons why, both of which I will tackle in another post at the serious blog.

Anyway, last night, after enduring more than 30 minutes of hell from Boni to Ortigas, there was a 10-minute slowdown at P. Tuazon area. Normally there is no traffic in the area.

The EDSA service road from P. Tuazon to Aurora Blvd. was divided by the MMDA into three lanes. The left-most lane is the express lane, the middle one for buses bound for Fairview/Novaliches buses, and the right-most for MCU/Malabon/Bulacan buses. I always take the express lane bus because it is faster.

So last night, the Letre bus that I took was to take the express lane when this MMDA enforcer decided to make his body as a roadblock. He refused to let the pass bus, and the driver argued with the roadblock. Annoyed, I shouted to the driver, “sagasaan mo na”. Since the bus was bound to Malabon, he should take right-most lane, right? Well, as we say in Tagalog, alanganin na. The lanes were separated by pink railings, and the bus was dangerously close to the railings, making the maneuver from the left to the right lane impossible (it could be done if there were few buses, but as it was the rush hour, it was impossible). So logically, since the roadblock refused to budged, the bus took the middle lane.

So after a few meters, another MMDA enforcer mutated into a roadblock, this time trying to take the driver’s licence because he took the wrong lane. Again, I shouted “Sagasaan mo na”, since these guys were obviously after some dough. Then, knowing that he was wrong, the roadblock number 2 gave way, but not without grace. He kept on shouting expletives, which forced me to retort “Gago ka pala, eh”.

I treat men in uniform with respect, but with these kind of idiots in uniform, I am happy (in retrospect) that all I could do was shout in frustration. Also, I really am not meant to drive, with morons like those MMDA enforcers on the road.

I understand perfectly now what road rage is. It is ugly. It forces you to do what you haven’t done before, what you thought you will never do.