I was waiting for a bus to pass along Buendia. I was in Makati to deliver relief to my boyfriend who will be hauling work way beyond his shift that evening. I know the bus stops in front of the Stock Exchange building. But the queue of weary commuters there stretches on forever - especially on a rush hour. So I waited on the other side of the Business District, hoping that a bus driving from Manila would stop and take me home.
It was my first attempt and that's why I asked a fellow commuter for instructions. When she cemented my intuition, I felt relieved that I might be with someone who's riding the same bus. The nice lady wasn't hailing the passing jeeps going to Guadalupe so I assumed.
Minutes had passed, and song after song being played on my music player, still, no bus showed up. The ground was damp, the sky heavy with clouds. Anytime, a water spray will fall and I was already bored with my music.
So I thought of switching to Chill Out sounds.
So I thought of switching to Chill Out sounds.
And just when I was shuffling my Nano, a PVP bus whizzed in front of me. It didn't slow down even when the traffic light at the intersection turned yellow. And the ladies who were there asked in a chorus why I didn't hail the bus. On my part, it took some time before I realized what I had just missed. I was still shuffling my music player even when the ladies were telling me that I could still catch the jumbo. The two succeeding ones, whose interval to the first was a mere five cars in-between didn't let me in. The commuters thought they would be returning to the terminal so they didn't stop. I doubt they were, knowing the people waiting in Ayala.
"Every thirty minutes ang dating ng bus." I heard one of them saying.
"Ganun po ba?" I cannot afford to wait. So I walked away and crossed the avenue to ride a jeep. I will have to take the Taft route instead.
So I took the long journey. A trip covering three cities, four vehicle transfers, and two precious hours wasted on urban commuting. All because I was shuffling my Apple device when the opportune time came. If I succeeded in finding a seat at a near-empty PVP bus; if I didn't assume that someone else found the courage to wait on the other side of Makati, only a mere 30-minute nap, and probably I've reached my house.
And now that I'm approaching home, on a G-Liner, which stopped in front of me near the City Hall, I learned the price of missed opportunities. Sometimes, even second chances don't come - or people don't have patience for it. Mine was a simple bus ride going home. But when applied as life lessons, good breaks get missed simply because one failed to look when the fleeting and elusive chance finally did arrive.