One thing I probably missed the most since graduation is riding those blue and white (sometimes beige if it’s that old) MRT trains. Off to or from school, those trains have been my best buds every single day for five years, though I may have cursed them quite a few times. Those trains have been the blind witnesses of what I’ve gone through in my life. Those trains knew everything about me and my feelings, my aspirations and my frustrations.
And I knew those trains pretty much as well. I’ve been in probably every single one of the active trains. I’ve been in every single station from Taft to North Edsa. I’ve had my bag checked in every check point possible, had inserted an MRT (regular and stored value) card in every single “ticket-eating machine” possible, had been through every male CR possible inside MRT. I knew exactly how many minutes would it take me to move from one station to another, how much people, statistically, would enter the train at a said station, just the mere scent of the frigid air in the atmosphere makes me distinguish where station am I.
And I felt at home with those trains. Ironic as it may sound, I felt secured in that crook-prone metal cage. The familiarity made me feel safe and comfortable no matter how clammy or sticky your seatmate may be. And like a Diophantine-based Number Theory book, I learned a heck of hard life lessons from these fast, metal railroad transports.
STAND UP and BE STILL. If you don’t want to be pushed around and dragged to somewhere difficult, you should stay where you are, hold on to the railings and protect your niche. You don’t want someone invade your own life, you don’t want someone overpowering you and pressuring you to move to somewhere less comfortable. You should establish yourself in this world, hold on to whatever your principles you have in life and create enough space for you to move.
PUSH. If you don’t want to be left behind by everything you chase, push. You need to move and be aggressive. You don’t want to be lost in translation and left out in the wilderness. You want to be in that train so make your way to move closer to that train. Sometimes, it would be bumpy and nasty but you have to have the will to cling with the beasts and stay within the hunt.
EXPECT THE WORST. When you’re all sheek and slick, and feel hot as hell, you don’t want to sit with someone sweaty and sticky. But hey, there are no rooms for pussies inside a 400-people full capacity train. Either you take a cab or take a bus if you don’t want your J’adore Dior dress be dampened with a crease or two. Or if you could do what I do best, just give someone a fake poker face and a big stare down afterwards.
And perhaps, the most important lesson I’ve learned from MRT so far is that in life in general, IT’S MUCH EASIER TO MAKE ENEMIES THAN TO MAKE FRIENDS. ‘Nuff said.
picture from http://listsoplenty.com
