Okay so commuting in Metro Manila objectively sucks. The traffic is a nightmare, public transport is not that reliable, the roads are bad, and sometimes you genuinely question your time management skills. But then you realize no, it’s not you, the system is just terrible and you’re doing your best to make it work for you. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t.
But here’s the thing. I actually kind of like it?
There’s this weird peace I find in the middle of all the chaos and I still can’t fully explain it. Like, everyone around me is tired, we’re packed in together, the jeep is loud, the traffic isn’t moving, and yet something in me just… settles. Maybe it’s because for that stretch of time, there’s nothing I can do. No tasks, no decisions, nowhere else I’m supposed to be other than exactly where I am. I’m just waiting, moving slowly, existing. And somehow that’s enough.
Being a Nobody
I put my music on and suddenly I’m a nobody. Just one small piece of this big moving city, a face in the crowd that no one’s looking at, going somewhere like everyone else. And that anonymity is genuinely comforting. There’s no pressure to be anything. I don’t have to perform or think too hard. I just get to be.
There’s something about walking in step with everyone else too. Everyone moving in the same direction, the same rhythm, the same tired shuffle toward the exit or the platform or the next connection. You’re not alone in it. You’re just one of thousands doing the exact same thing, and somehow that’s weirdly comforting. Like being part of something without having to join anything.
I spend half the time zoning out, looking out the window, watching the city pass by like it’s a movie I didn’t choose but got really into anyway. And the other half I’m quietly observing people; their outfits, their watches, what phone they’re using, the little details. Building stories about them in my head. Who they are, where they’re going, what their life looks like when they get off at their stop. It’s such a small thing but it makes me feel oddly connected to everyone around me even though we’ve never spoken and probably never will.
Strangers
I think that’s the part that gets me the most. We’re all strangers. We’re all tired. We’re all just trying to get from one place to another. And there’s this unspoken thing between everyone on that LRT or bus where we just get it. No words needed. Just people, living their lives, side by side for a few stops.
It’s chaotic and exhausting and I really wish the system wasn’t such a mess. But that weird, quiet peace I find in it, in the noise, in the crowd, in having nowhere to be but here, I don’t really find that anywhere else. And I think that’s worth something.