Jeepney Fare Blooper

After watching numerous films, I’ve always associated bloopers to the ending credits. While the ending credits roll, there are short snippets of film where the actor would forget a line or the actress would suddenly laugh out loud without any warning. I’ve always thought that these bloopers wouldn’t happen to me. However, much to my terror and surprise, I had a blooper while going home earlier.

Like the past few weeks, I hitch a ride with my friend, Philip. Usually, he would drop me off along the Alabang-Zapote Road, but tonight, he had to go to Manila, so he dropped me off at the parking lot of the Festival Mall where vans stay in makeshift terminals, ready to ferry passangers from Alabang to Cavite.

I boarded one van, and I immediately prepared my fare for the van. I got my wallet out, and I took P40 out of my wallet. I figured that with the P5 change that I was supposed to receive back from the dispatcher, I would have P7 left, just enough for a jeepney ride to my house. However, much to my terror, surprise, and dread, I sat in the van, wide-eyed and horrified, shaking my head in disbelief — I only had P1 left in wallet!

That will make a measly P6, P1 short of the minimum fare to get to my house!!!

I tried to curb the rising panic in my head, thinking fast and furiuosly for solutions, and I came up with two:

a. text my sister, ask anybody from the house to fetch me at the van terminal in Cavite
b. text Donna, who lived near the terminal, and ask for P1
c. beg for P1 from a random stranger
d. walk home

Since the last option was not an option becuase I felt too tired to walk, I opted to do both a and b. I texted my sister and Donna. Donna didn’t reply soon enough, and my sister told me that my mom and dad said to just take a tricycle and they’d pay for it when I got home. Good thing that I took their suggestion becuase after a few minutes, Donna replied that she wasn’t home yet.

While I was in the van, I felt really downtrodden because I felt so poor. I was desperate to get home, enough to have considered option d, but I stuck with my pride, and just got the tricycle. When I got home, my mom was sitting in front of the house, ready with the fare, laughing at what happened to me. My uncle told me to always bring spare change in my bag and let them just jingle in it for crises like this while laughing mockingly. Then, I posted this experience in my Facebook page, and my sister mocked me too, saying “Bwahahaha!”

Gosh! I really didn’t think that a blooper like this would happen to me, but nevertheless, this experience made me realize that I need to really prepare for events like this.