For a lot of Filipinos living in the Metro, the LRT lines 1 and 2, and the MRT have exponentially made travelling from one point to another easier. It is cheap, fast, and convenient. A lot of Filipinos have praised the entire system and there will be a lot more to praise as the government expands and improves the service. It has become a vital artery of the whole Metro Manila area. Thousands ride these trains every day to get to school, work, friends, family, and other places they have to be in whether it is important or not.
We all should praise this system. The price, the safety, and the efficiency of the MRT and LRT rail systems are not in question. What is however, is the etiquette of those using and riding these systems every day.
Have you ever tried riding the train on the MRT Cubao station at 2pm in the afternoon? The number of people are not as great as during rush hour but the same bad habits can be seen. First and foremost what really bugs me is the fact that once the doors open people starts to file in regardless of anything else. They do not take into consideration that there’s an elderly woman standing in front of them. They do not take into consideration the lone mother with two small kids. They do not take into consideration the guy on crutches. These points are not to be debated. You can see this every day on almost every station.
There is clearly no etiquette. Even the simplest rule of “let passengers alight first” is not followed. Why does it take a long time for people to get into the train? It’s because they move in before those moving out can get by thus making it a slow bottleneck. It’s as if we are a flock of sheep without a shepherd. It’s as if Filipinos really don’t have common sense.
What this clearly shows is that we lack discipline and is a clear illustration of our crab mentality. Just another day living in the Metro.
My two pesos.
Posted on June 1, 2010
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