Passenger Seat

A blatant truth pierced through my heart and left me the paranoia that life, sometimes, can sever through the hands of others.

One night on my way home, I was looking for a ride via Evangelista-Libertad. There were numerous vehicles to choose from, but, I boarded this particular jeep for it was attractive and a lively one—perfectly complementing my gloomy feeling. The several small blinking lights accentuating its rear and sides seemed a minor detail against the interior which looked bouncy of mirror mosaic ceiling, groovy lights and hippy music. I was sitting by the entrance along with another passenger a middle-aged woman who was near the captain. I never thought about it at first, but, the driver was as active as his vehicle.

For the entire journey, I wanted to pull the driver’s hair off because he actually transformed his jeep into a racing vehicle. All the while, I was imagining a spinning roulette from among the possible causes for a car accident which might happen anytime out of reckless and unlawful driving. How would have we ended if that sharp abrupt turn in the street had cars in the counter flow? Or, what would likely occur if the driver missed the road signal because of the loud music? I was paranoid.

My resentment of the experience was, the idea that I was forced to a dependency on the driver who doesn’t seem to care about nor has the consciousness to value his passengers. That moment, I feared for my life because I was not prepared to face a meaningless death. I mean, where was the dignity of dying in the hands of a juvenile driver?  Not only that, I thought about the woman who has her family waiting for her at home. Or, what if he hit a boy along the way? Did the driver ever think of these possibilities?

The driver missed the significant lessons—the sense of responsibility and obedience. Not only him but also everyone has a role in which we have to perform properly. We were tasked to do it; therefore, we must be reliable and mature enough to be the person in control of the situation especially if other people’s welfare were involved.  Along with, proper observation of the law was essential. We know how to break rules; then, we should also know how to follow them. We must know when to stop or to go.

I missed to give him these enlightenment. I suddenly felt the blame was on the apathetic citizen like myself—who should have been a purveyor of awareness. I was conscious all along but I never bothered.

Nevertheless, we are lucky to have God, above all, who takes the wheel and drives us all into safe; and who, in the end, erases all these paranoia.

I think that experience is applicable to any aspects in life. There would be other instances that would situate us into similar dependency requiring our responsibility and obedience.

But, now I know.