Society Encounters (Part 2)

Part 1: Society Encounters

Today was a very exhausting day. I didn't expect to be this exhausted after a day of working on our thesis. It can't be compared on our previous works.

February 21, 2022, me and my thesismates decided to go to Legazpi City which is about 49.9km away from our home and about an hour of ride. I leave our house at 7:30 and arrive at town before 8am. I waited for them and after a few minutes, they finally arrived then we waited for jeepneys to pass by.

We finally hop in the jeepney and thankfully, the jeepney wasn't full of passengers. As we are on our way, I noticed a lot of things. Starting from inside the jeepney. There are no shields and safety protocol are not followed. The capacity of the jeep was doubled compared to the memo given by IATF.

In the mid of our ride, there are about 3 passengers waiting but the jeep was already full. But what amazes me is that the driver insisted that they can still fit inside well in fact, we are already squeezed inside. I got irritated but didn't say anything. Another thing is that, there is this fat woman who sits like she owns the whole seat. While we are being squeezed up, she was sitting on a slant position making us more squeezed. I just didn't say anything. My thesis mate said she noticed it too.

Continuing, I just get myself busy by watching outside the window. When we reached the town of Daraga, I noticed different kinds of people. I saw an old man pushing his cart, a middle-aged man selling handkerchief, a lady waiting for someone, a child selling ornamentals, jeepney drivers waiting for passengers, and other people minding their own business.

As we go along the ride, I realized how different this world is. Just by looking at them making me realize that I still have more to experience in the future, that I still need to know lots of things. I've also seen professionals walking fast as if time is running towards them, and here I am imagining myself in that position.

Have you ever feel the feeling of wanting to help a person but you can't help him? Earlier, while we are discussing about our next step, I saw this injured man selling handkerchief on the other side of the street. He was handling about 20 pieces of handkerchief. I wanted to buy from him but my money is just enough for my own expenses. At the end, I wasn't able to help him, but a thought came into my mind -

When I can finally buy things that I need, without worrying of loosing, I promise to
help them as long as I can.

It's not just that man, but every single person who's working below the strong heat of the sun.

When we arrived at the beach (because we need to collect fine sand for our water filter), we saw children swimming on the beach. Imagine seeing those happy faces when they are playing together. I know they are financially reach, but their hearts are.

Then I realized that every one of us have our own battles to fight. Seeing those people who keeps on working hard just to satisfy their needs make me shamed myself for being so arrogant and picky sometimes. I can't imagine myself being in that kind of situation. I was born in a family where I can get my needs and thinking the other way around makes me feel sad and uneasy.

I saw this little boy with his (I think) 2-year old sister sitting on the floor outside an establishment. The boy is extending his arm on every person that passes by on them, but no one is willing to help. It's sad that on a young age, he need to survive on his own. That is why, this coming election, I am really rooting for whoever won to focus their projects on child development and agriculture.

Sadly, I wasn't able to take pictures but I'm sure you can picture it out based on my description and I know for sure that you have also encountered these kinds of stuff.