Almost 1km from where I boarded, I heard a commotion inside the bus as I was listening to my iPod (Postal Service tracks to be exact). I thought an altercation occurred between passengers. Shock of my life when I saw 5 or 6 men pointing revolvers to the passengers while taking their stuff. My instinct was to hide my bulky backpack under my seat. I placed my headset inside the slot by the side of my seat. (I was originally seated by the aisle at the 6th row behind the driver, but when the 2 passengers got off, I moved to their previous seat and was situated there by myself.) The gruelling ordeal took place all within 5 minutes, but those were the longest 5 minutes of my life (thus far). I dunno what happened, but for some reason the holduppers didn't approach me. Maybe the conductor (whom I suspect was a cohort of these wannabe thugs) was an angel in disguise. He stood at my area, as if he were covering me up. The holduppers grabbed a student's entire stuff, to which the student cried and exclaimed, "Maawa po kayo. Pang-aral ko 'yan." To which one of the goons replied, "May pa-histe-hysterical ka pa dyan." Then they got off.
The bus managed to move forward by a few inches, when the passengers saw a police detachment. We frantically got off the bus, with some passengers panicking "Baka balikan tayo ng mga holdaper." I, who was surprisingly calm and alert almost the entire incident, albeit unobservant to many things that occurred, suddenly felt a surge of pent-up tension rising in me as I was leaving the bus. I just got the urge to run as fast as I could towards BF Resort. There I hurriedly boarded a tricycle, taking me to Prinsa (a shortcut connecting BF Las Pinas to Bacoor, Cavite). From there, I was basically uneasy as I was boarding a jeep then a tricycle, until I finally landed home.
My personal plans of relaxation didn't go as scheduled. What matters more though is that at least I still have some more time in my hands to schedule things out. I lost my almost 1-week old headset. What matters more though is that I can still listen to and appreciate music.
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A good friend of mine kamui, from the forum site, got stabbed twice last Saturday night, as he was headed to a night-out with other forum guys.The 2 holduppers got his wallet. Still fortunate somehow that the steak knife was dull, hence there were no major damage to his organs. He just got out of the hospital hours ago and we're hoping for his speedy and full recovery. I got alarmed when I heard the news 'coz I hang out with him and some other forum guys Friday night. How things can drastically change in the course of 24 hours.
And just today, I learned from another good friend bronxdude that his beau Pronghorn's bag got slashed as he was aboard a bus. Really grateful that nothing was gotten from him. It was Pronghorn's first day at work in Makati.
Oh my. I've been held-up five times. Not counting the bag-slashing, distraction modus, and other methodologies. Each time is a trauma, one that will never desensitize you. I hope your friends are ok.
ReplyDeleteSadly, the robbers take more than pecuniary or material possessions. They take with them what we hold dear, and uneasily attainable, our sense of security.
For me, material possessions aren't really all that. What's far more precious are the wonderful memories and moments attached to these things. And that's what I was really concerned about when I faced that situation the other day.
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