Karen’s Random Note: Enduring the MRT Stress

I did my best to log out of work by 7 PM, on the dot.  I need to go home to make up some time with my husband after a few months of being extremely busy.

And I succeeded.  Well, sort of.  I went out 7:05 PM.

From Emerald Avenue where my office is located, I walked briskly with my laptop (without the charger to lessen the load), my ever reliable, “not-that-big-but-not-that-small-either” shoulder bag, and my shawl around my shoulders, and with my flat shoes on.  After 15 minutes, I walked from there to the MRT Ortigas Station.  It felt good whenever I pass by on people walking towards EDSA.  For me it feels like I saved precious time as I walked past them.  It also felt like I am improving on my walking pace, thanks to my twice a week jog with Zham.

Anyway, as I approached the escalator, I became like…

Busted!  The escalator is not working………….  I have no other choice but to use the stairs to go up. Then I have to go down again to cross to the other lane (Southbound).  Then I saw the elevator opened and I rushed to go in, together with several women.  I’m not in the mood to go up using the stairs again.

The door closed.  No ventilation. All of us inside are sweating, probably the effect of the loooonnnggg walk.  The elevator seemed struggling to work properly.  It took forever for us to approach the top floor.  The elevator had slight vibrations while going up which scared me a bit.  I don’t want to get stuck on that kind of lift—very slow, unventilated, and looks like today is its last day of existence.

7:25 PM. Thank God I was able to arrive at the station safely.  That was a crazy way up.  But what I saw was even crazier.  Large mass of commuters lined up and waiting to get aboard….. Something like this (actually, even worse than this picture):

Image courtesy of graceaddict.wordpress.com

I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.  How can I get to Mall of Asia in less than 30 minutes with this kind of situation?!

Good thing is that I have a Stored Value Card with me.  THIS IS A BIG PIECE OF ADVICE.  I urge you to buy one instead of the single journey ticket.  You can use this for 6 months, so that you won’t have to endure that long queue just to purchase a ticket.  You’ll save your precious golden time and your money too.  There is a bonus ride applied to the last butal (peso) of your Stored Value Ticket.

So I entered the waiting area, and had no other choice but to patiently line up and wait for the train.  The first train arrived. Second. Third. Fourth.  And I’m still on the line, waiting. 

8PM. Come the fifth train, thank God.  I went inside effortlessly, thanks to the people behind me on the line who pushed me inside.  And I’m sweating.

I’m at the middle of the left and right doors, surrounded by a huge number of female passengers.  I don’t need to reach for the safety handrails, because just standing and extremely close with the other passengers, I am immovable (with a little help of my foot positioning so that I won’t go out of balance whenever the train stops and goes).  I held tight of my belongings to ensure that they are safe.  Safer than I am.

Shaw Station. Boni. Guadalupe. More and more people went in, few ones went out.  I’m drowning on the sea of people.  Haaaayyy… I’m getting too emotional.  I saw the train “ceiling” just above the door and it seems it will fall down.  The aircon sounds like crazy, it was like shouting, pleading for it to be replaced with a new one.  People’s faces are “NR” (No Reaction)—or maybe DWTR (Don’t Want To React).  Maybe they’re just tired after the day’s work, and will become more tired after this MRT ride.  

Buendia, 8:25 PM.  One-fourth of the passengers went out, which gave me a sigh of relief somehow.  My legs are shaking and becoming stiff, I can’t move them.  I struggled to approached the vacant seat in front of me.  I’m just three stations away, but I don’t care.  I want to sit down, please……

Then a woman who is seated on my left is tinkering on her digital camera.  I just ignored her and just Vibered Zham that I’m about to alight the train.  Then a blinding flash struck my face.  I was surprised, and aghast.  I THOUGHT PICTURE TAKING IS NOT ALLOWED INSIDE THE TRAIN???

Then I saw the woman with the digital camera—and in amazement, I saw the shot preview of her digicam—HER SELFIE TAKEN A FEW MINUTES AGO!  I could say that she applied too much foundation because it became obvious because of the flash—wait…. THE FLASH!  Taking your selfie inside the train on a rush hour with a flash!?!?!  Are you kidding me???

I wanted to shout, “Grabe ate sobra ka don ha……”  But I kept my cool, which amazed me.  It’s either I’m so tired to argue with the woman or I really wanted to develop self control.  I hope the latter is applicable.

8:35 PM.  Finally, I’m at the last station.  But there were noticeable changes.  Round trip is already not allowed.  Everyone inside the train must go up, and those who are riding should wait from the edge of the stairs before they could go inside the train.  Something like this:

Images from getrealphilippines.com

I felt weaker and weaker as I took the long stairs going up, taking each step slowly because the area is jam packed.  I took hold myself so that I won’t faint and lose consciousness.  It was a looooong line going out.  I hopped in to the waiting jeepney just outside the station and I thank God I survived that freaky ride.

And I’m getting through all of this three times a week.  I think I’m fortunate because several commuters endure this kind of ride EVERYDAY (going to and from their workplaces).  I don’t know.  But one thing is for sure, THERE IS REALLY SOMETHING WRONG.  I even posted a status on my Facebook that MRT trains should be as wide as that of the LRT2 trains.  Since EDSA is the busiest public area in the Metro, the trains here should be big and wide enough to accommodate people.

On that note, all I can say is—I’M SPEECHLESS.

Have your own LRT/MRT crazy story to tell? Share it here at the Comments section. :P