Mind your Peace and Queues

I have a thing about lines.

I have always believed that to maintain a certain order, people have to wait their turn. I always make sure that whenever I'm in a place with a lot of people waiting--be it a taxi terminal, a government office, a restaurant--that I am lining up properly. Sometimes I go as far as remembering who arrived before me (in the case that there are no lines, no numbers given out or no reservation list) just to be fair to other people. I guess that is why I expect the same kind of consideration from other people.

Many times, though, I am reminded that not everyone is willing to extend this same courtesy.

Last Monday, August 15, Kris and I headed to Equitable PCI Bank in Galleria. It was payday so we expected a long line. True enough, when we got there, around 25 people were already in queue. We fell in line with all the others and engaged in conversation. We were a bit bothered by this twenty-something woman wearing maroon pants, because she was running all over the place, noisily chatting with her friends and seemingly flirting with a guy she and her friends ran into. The whole scene was distracting but we continued our conversation.

Half an hour later, Kris and I were nearing the ATM machine and this girl suddenly announces to her friends that she has to get back in line. The thing is I never remembered her being in line, in the first place. I assumed that if she had left the line that she asked one of her friends to take her place or, at the very least, let the person behind her know that she was leaving for a moment and would be coming back.

Naiinis na ako, kasi nga I have a thing about lines. I told Kris that the girl better not be cutting the line. I was especially agitated having been in line for half an hour. Maroon pants created her own second line (you know how when traffic is bad, drivers don't follow the lines painted on the road and instead make their own lines and end up cutting people who actually stayed on the right lane? Ganon ang ginawa niya.) and slithered her way into our line. I saw that Kris was also getting irritated. I also saw the girl two spaces before us giving maroon pants a dirty stare and the guy in front of us doing the same. Maroon pants oh-so-casually inched her way between the girl and the guy but did they even mutter a word? No.

So, I tapped the guy on the shoulder (who ignored me the first time, by the way) and said, "nagpaalam ba 'yan sa iyo na aalis siya sa pila at babalik ulit?" Hindi daw. So I tapped him again, "paki tanong nga dun sa nasa harap niya kung nagsabi siya?" This time, hindi talaga ako pinansin. So, I asked maroon pants herself, "Excuse me, nakapila ka ba? Nagsabi ka bang aalis ka sa pila at babalik ka?" She haughtily answered something like "oo, baket?" I go, "hindi ka nagsabi," tapping the guy again, urging him to speak up and he sort of shook his head and muttered something. So, I said "para ka naman walang pinag-aralan eh..." Surprisingly, she fought back with "ikaw ang walang pinagaralan. nakikialam ka pa!"

I didn't have to say anything anymore because Kris came to the rescue with a load of expletives. Now, I'm forever trying to deal with my temper pero pag talaga nasa ganitong sitwasyon ka, it's so hard to control. The funny thing is despite being extremely irritated, I found the whole thing hilarious.

Pano naman the girl started echoing everything Kris said:

Kris: You F***** B****! W****!
Maroon Pants: You F***** B**** W**** ka rin!
Kris (in wonderfully perfect American accent): Do you even know what that means?
Maroon Pants: Yes (sabay talikod)

I try to be the voice of reason,"alam mo, miss, sa amin lang naman, pumila ka ng maayos. kung lahat kami, aalis sa pila at uupo, o makikipagharot sa mga kaibigan namin, eh di nawala na yung pila..." Maroon pants replied defiantly, "inggit ka lang!" Nge, san ako maiinggit doon??!

One of her friends even had the gall to try to spit on Kris. Buti na lang si Alona lang ang inabutan kasi if that spit reached Kris (or me), ay hindi ko na alam kung saan kami pupulutin. Because of the commotion, the guards approached us asking what the problem was. I said, "dapat ho kasi binabantayan niyo yung pila para walang sumisingit." Ang sagot, "Wag ho kasi kayo magpasingit." Hay, what did he think we were doing?

The girl finally finishes withdrawing (yes, she actually had the gall to stay wrongfully in line all the way to the ATM machine) and suddenly her friends and she speak up (or rather shout in palengkera voices) again. I don't even remember what hilariously lame thing they said (except relly? relly? and unejukated! ) but they said all of it while walking away. How typical to start speaking up pag paalis na sila... But Kris had the final say by doing this ass-slapping dance that had me giggling.

The guard approaches again and apologizes. "Pasensya na kayo sa kanila, ma'am."

Hindi ko alam kung kanino magpapasensya, dun sa sumingit, dun sa friends niya or sa mga taong nakapila who never even bothered to speak up.

Yes, throughout everything, nobody else spoke. Naiinis sila, pero pinabayaan lang nila na siningitan sila. How sad how so many people demand for their rights but are not willing to stand up for those same rights.

***

Like I said above, I'm struggling to control my temper. It's hard, especially when you're being provoked. Nevertheless, I want to come to the point where it will be extremely hard to get me irritated and even when I do get irritated, that I handle the feeling with utmost grace. It's easy to say but difficult to do, but it's something I really have to overcome nevertheless.

God, please help me...