It’s hard that we don’t have our own car

Yesterday, Ren had a social group therapy session at Manila. We rode a shuttle going out of the subdivision, it is not that full (there were only 4 passengers inside).  We decided to sit beside an old woman since it was nearer to the door of the shuttle. I asked the old woman if she can move a little bit since I am thinking that my son might accidentally step on her shoes or that she might get annoyed because Ren is so fidgety.  She moved a little bit, but I didn’t noticed that she has a foreigner husband in front of me and asked her to just moved beside him (we have lots of foreigner neighbors in our place huh!).

He spoke in a different language (not english), so I thought he was just talking to his wife in a loud voice.  What I didn’t realize was that he got mad of what I did (I just knew it because he is making gestures).  He thought that I was pushing her wife to the side of the vehicle.  The Filipina wife was trying to calm him down by tapping his legs.  I am just waiting for him to confront me and tell it to my face his dismay so that I can defend myself and my son, but part of me is also afraid that he might hit me (ohh he’s so big). 

When they went down the shuttle, the foreigner suddenly kicked the door of the shuttle and as if he’s telling me to go down.  He even accidentally hit his wife when he banged the door.  I was SHOCKED!!!!

The other passengers (Pinoys), asked me what happened so I explained, I was glad that they found the situation was too shallow and the driver assured me that the foreigner really has a problem and it wasn’t the first time he did it.

The shuttle looked like this:

Now, I am thinking do we need our own car to avoid these kind of situations or those people that do not want to be near other people should ride in a private car so that they can do whatever they want? 

I want my son to be comfortable and see the world around him by riding on public vehicles so that when he grows up, it will be easy for him to get his way home.  I am teaching him to pay for our fare by saying “bayad” and to say “para” when it’s time to go down.  I am teaching him to watch out for other passenger’s feet when climbing the jeep.  I am teaching him to sit properly and I am exposing him to the noise of the outside world to overcome his sensitive hearing.  But, the world is cruel.

 Sigh, I hope we can afford to have our own car, or at least the other passengers are more considerate.