Serendipity
By Joanne Combong-Pijuan

Vexed in the City

If Carrie Bradshaw had (a lot of) “Sex in the City”, I, on the other hand, am vexed in this city. Sure, I love Iloilo. But there are just days when my patience goes out of the window and I gnash my teeth and pull my hair out in frustration. There are moments when I want to do an ala-“Falling Down” mental malfunction; get myself a rocket launcher; go on a one-man mission and “correct” (meaning: annihilate) all the injustices, corruption and urban “irritants” like cocky policemen, ill-mannered people and perennially problematic street projects in this city.

Just this week I had to find another way going to Diversion Road from my house because that street where Makro is (going to Bolilao), is closed – again! For the umpteenth time this year, that street is going through another major facelift. What’s with all the digging and paving and cementing? Why is that street being repaired again? How many times does one small street really need to be paved in a year? Whoever has the answers to all my questions, please stand up because I’m sick and tired of rerouting and wasting gas in the process.

Since I’m on the subject of streets, one thing that really irks me is seeing kids driving pedicabs in major thoroughfares. Does an 8 or even 12 year-old kid have the necessary skill or judgment to safely maneuver a pedicab / tri-sikad or any kind of vehicle for that matter? I know that life is hard, but is it really worth it to risk the lives of children for a few measly pesos? I’m sorry to say but the parents of these kids should be lynched. Not only are they putting the lives of their children at risk but they’re endangering the lives of other motorists as well.

If there’s a city ordinance or law for this, then how come it’s not being strictly enforced by the city government? I think that instead of bickering about petty politics and sleeping during sessions, our local government officials should “wake up” and do something concrete and substantial to address this issue. Come to think of it, eons ago, when I was City Administrator for a week during Rotary’s Boys and Girls Week, I distinctly remember saying something about this pedicab issue when I was interviewed by a local radio station. Apparently until now nothing has been done about this road hazard which goes to show how excruciatingly slow this city is in effecting change.

Yes, this city is truly speed-challenged. A perfect example of this is the mystery behind why it takes ages for anything (paperwork, permits, etc.) to be processed in this city most especially when dealing with some government offices. I don’t understand why everything is so slow when there are hundreds of idle employees wasting their time making chismis, and sitting all day (seemingly) doing nothing every time I go to these offices. The bureaucratic crap (red tape, paper shuffling, etc.) is bad as it is, do I have to deal with inept, lazy and rude employees afflicted with the 4:01 syndrome (try to go to some government offices after 4 pm and you’ll see what I mean – brainwork seems to stop at around this time and almost everyone is poised to clock out and go home) as well?

And speaking of rude people, I went ballistic last weekend when I encountered this truly cocky, bad-mannered policeman. I don’t want to go into the nitty-gritty details but wearing a “uniform” does not give anyone the right to be arrogant and offensive. Well, now I know why these men in uniform get so much flak and bad press -- methinks some of them deserve it.
I could go on and on about the truly vexing, perplexing and annoying people, things, and goings-on in this city until I bust a vein, but does anyone even care? I know that like almost all things that matter in this world, all my written rantings and verbal haranguings will just fall on deaf ears -- unless of course I do that Michael Douglas thingy, take matters into my own hands, and start spraying bullets.