This is why sometimes I’d like to fly

One day my lunch mates and I were talking about our weirdest (a.k.a. horrific) experiences on the road. Can’t remember how we ended up talking about it though. Just one of those random conversations that spring from one topic to the other.

Kernan is a responsible and law-abiding driver so we’re always safe on the road. Yes, we do encounter some annoying experiences particularly with jeepney drivers haphazardly driving at night with no headlights or bus drivers who act like they’re kings of EDSA. But hubby always manages to keep his cool and stir us to safety.

I did have a few weird experiences on the road years ago but they’re etched in memory to this day.

I was in highschool and it was my birthday. My friend’s dad picked the two of us from school so we could spend some bonding time in her house. Poised to make a U-turn, our car suddenly came to a halt after another car from the opposite side of the road refused to give way. Both drivers exchanged mean glances and some “hand signs.” After we made a U-turn, both drivers started “competing” with each other for road space as if they were on a race. At one point, they got too close and both cars scratched each other. No biggie for us since the car we were riding was relatively old.

But the other car looked like new, so the driver got so pissed. He overtook us, parked at the sidewalk and got out of his car. He was motioning for us to park too, apparently, so both men could talk and settle the matter. The traffic light showed red so it seemed we had no choice but to stop. My friend’s dad who might have had an inkling that stopping would be a bad choice slowed down the car as we neared the sidewalk then sped off just as the traffic light turned green.

I remember looking through the rear window and seeing the other driver pull out a gun and aim at us. We quickly ducked at the back seat and prayed hard the man won’t shoot. After a few detours and extra turns, we finally got to my friend’s home safe and just a little bit rattled.

Another instance was when Kernan and I were headed home after a date work (this was ages ago when we were still dating), it was raining hard and we didn’t realize that the roads would get flooded so easily. Trying to find a passable road, we miscalculated the depth of the water and ended up getting submerged in the flood. We almost panicked as water started seeping into the car door and onto the floor. We couldn’t call a 24 hour towing service so my dad and his dad had to come and get us. My dad tied a rope to hubby’s car and towed it to higher ground.

That was definitely a defining point in hubby’s car preferences. Ever since, he’d always go for the bigger and taller cars that could brave flood waters. After Ondoy and the rest of the storms that came with it, we realized that big cars are indeed a smart choice.

I commute everyday and I am always safe. But sometimes, when traffic gets heavy, drivers become bullies and the heat turns sweltering, it makes me want to fly or teleport to go wherever I need to go.

Funny because when I was younger, I thought that would be how most people would be traveling in the year 2000 and beyond. Blame it on the Jetsons.

Tagged as: cars, traffic