Little, Almost Universal Rules

Every day, I can witness and experience some petty deviations from little rules. Negligible they may seem but they are an everyday test to a person’s patience, respect to rules and even respect to other people. I will be enumerating these little rules that are so little, most people disobey them.

Do not block the pedestrian lane. Vehicles of all types never fail to block pedestrian lanes every single day of my commuting life. There are three reasons why this happen: First, cars failed to cross the intersection because the stoplight already showed a red light (which is almost a violation, see next item). Second, they wanted to be near the intersection as much as possible because they are in a hurry. Third, they saw no one in the pedestrian lane so it’s perfectly okay to block it. None of the three reasons are valid. All of the reasons are hate-worthy.

Little Rules, Little Meanings

Slow down when the stoplight shows orange. Almost all drivers equate the orange signal with the green one. Now, I tell them, their meanings are as different as their colors. Orange means slow-down to stop.  Well, it’s not really prohibited to cross the road when the orange bulb lights but it gives you a caution that the next traffic line will go in a while and you need to hurry when you want to cross the intersection. In an ideal and patient world, the traffic slows down when the orange shows, securing enough road space for the next traffic line. Man, you’re not the only person who is in a hurry.

Do not cross the road if it’s prohibited. I really don’t know why many people are fond of crossing roads where it is prohibited to do so. Are they challenged enough to risk life? Do they feel some kind of orgasmic satisfaction when they safely cross the dangerous road? There are two subjects under this rule: First, about roads which are prohibited to cross and second, about pedestrian lanes and stoplights. The latter is the more prevalent subject. Most pedestrians cross the pedestrian lane even if the pedestrian stoplight says otherwise. They do so because they don’t see any vehicles running. I know it is but logical to cross the road when it is safe to do so. But still, I stick to the pedestrian stoplight’s command—it may not have a mind of its own but it surely has the power to control traffic, and even has the power to control your life. This is the ultimate test of patience for pedestrians. And millions of Filipino pedestrians fail this test. If we have Singaporean-standards of traffic rules implementation, millions of pedestrians are already in jail.

Do not smoke in Public Utility Vehicles. The bus or jeepney is not your ashtray, not your smoking lounge either. If you want to light a cig, do it somewhere where you can minimize the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. More importantly, do it somewhere so that you can respect other people’s right to clean air.

Fall in line, please. When I was a kid, I saw numerous advocacies on the trimedia that advocate the simple rule of falling in line. I know this is not a hard, constitutional rule but this is a universally accepted standard to maintain order. You know what, those advocacies I saw failed to persuade the people. This is not because how the advocacy delivered but because of how people behave in general. I always see struggles in the train station and in bus stops. We suffer because we choose to suffer.

Can you please just keep right? Again, this is not a hard rule but this is something conceded by the world to maintain order. Okay, I may be insensitive to other cultures (if there are some who do otherwise; keep left perhaps?) but this is something easy to do to achieve and maintain order. Every day, I see spawn of people who keep left, keep right, swivel to the left, swivel to the right and all those random pedestrian choreographies. If someone bumps another, then this would start a fight or some stare of aggression at least. Do the right thing, keep right.

Use your horn in moderation. Yes, I’m talking about your car’s horn. Have you heard about noise pollution? I bet you still haven’t because these vehicles can’t just stop honking. If you go to Japan, car drivers barely use their horn (yes, the same horn I was talking about) because they believe that your horn usage is highly representative of your behaviour. If you are impatient and disrespectful, you honk until you get what you want. You brat.

If you can see, all of these are about vehicle and pedestrian traffic. And if you can see, these are the simplest of rules. Behavioural change starts with the simplest of things. I recommend everyone to observe these little rules. Thanks.

This blog entry, by the way, is inspired by my own daily experiences and by the book 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country by Alexander Ledesma Lacson. I don’t know if this is still out in the market but if you see one in your neighbourhood bookstore, please buy and read one. Again, thanks.