I was walking in centro yesterday morning. I was on my way home after my shift. I was struck by the cleanliness of the air and the utter freshness of my surroundings. It had just finished raining and the environment appeared to have been cleansed of its previous day’s debris. If only one could preserve air, I would have done so at that very instant, This was downtown Metro Naga we’re talking about yet the air smelled as clean and as fresh as any farmland.
It made me remember my recent trip to Manila, wherein I was once again subjected to its polluted surroundings. Somehow I couldn’t quite imagine how I managed to survive in the years I’ve lived there. The air was now suffocating to my untrained senses – I have long grown accustomed to the freshness of the rural life that I have quite forgotten the atmosphere of Manila. The experience made me all the more grateful to be working and living in the province. Maybe I wouldn’t really switch places after 2 years.
That recent trip to Manila also gave me the opportunity to come into close contact with the afternoon rush hour. Imagine being squeezed tight in the MRT train at the first terminal station. And imagine the horror of approaching, station after station, filled with numerous passengers all trying their best to get inside the train. I swear I heared the PA system at the train stations pleading for passengers to no longer choose MRT as their mode of transportation! To think that MRT started its 24/7 operations that day and still the number of passengers were horrifying.
And so I am thankful, immensely, despite the small salary, that I get to work in an environment free of polluted air; an environment that the only thing akin to rush hour is the mad rush to be the first passenger alight the shuttle bus – which can really sit ALL the passengers, except in some rare instances of miscalculation. And despite all my apparent misgivings and talks about boredom and job fulfillment, I am thankful for where I am now, Indeed I am.
