Disturbing signs

As Filipinos, we are culturally bred to be courteous to each other. Our attitude toward elders, guests and superiors is of politeness and awareness of our place in society. It’s almost as if the last thing we want to do is slight anyone.

But what happens when we are out driving on the road? If you drive, these observations are nothing new.

There is a territorial urge not to give an inch to anyone. Is there a road version of opening a door for anyone? How many times have you been in an intersection during a traffic snarl, when a vehicle could have simply allowed you to pass, but instead blocked your way? When allowing even for a few seconds another vehicle to pass can free up a potential traffic tie-up. Yet, there is a tendency to stubbornly resist giving the other motorist any leeway. It’s as if the most common rules of courtesy just go out the window.

This  behavior reflects  a bigger problem. A widespread form of inefficiency permeating our culture. We don’t put much faith in anyone observing traffic laws especially when the traffic enforcers are not around. Just count how many cars running through red lights in a day. Is there such a thing as staying in your lane? Think again.

As a traveler, I have driven a variety of vehicles in 15 countries—in friends’ cars, rented automobiles, motorcycles and self-drive vehicles that need to be delivered somewhere. Just like cooking, or keeping house, there is a distinct cultural stamp in the way we do everything. It can be said that how we drive gives away, albeit just a glimpse of, our nature. Like a hologram, this small example of how we act is very telling in its implication.

Driving in Germany where there is no speed limit on the autobahn requires discipline, a well-maintained car and the kind of focus found in highly developed cultures. Americans appreciate good driving habits since they promote efficiency and a smoother flow of traffic. I have sat in a coffee shop while people on my table gave a rating of 1 to 10, as it is done in skating competitions, on how drivers park cars. Italians, French and Brazilians may love fast driving, but they also admire a certain finesse in maneuvering a car through traffic.

I might accept the idea that we live in a part of the world where nature rules. We are on the crosshairs of a variety of potential calamities such as floods, typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions—not to mention the occasional tornado. Perhaps this is why our language is not particularly suited to discuss future plans—say, where we want to be five years from now. Our attitude is to get it while we can. It’s nice to think that we live in the moment, never mind that our idea of the moment might be at the expense of someone else’s.

As a people we are sadly lacking in the observance of details. How many mistakes does the National Statistics Office have to rectify on a document submitted to it? From misspellings to gender errors on birth and marriage records. Why do loudspeakers have to blare out even if the sound is distorted? I know of no culture where people sing on karaoke at full volume despite a broken loudspeaker and being out of tune. How many motorcyclists have you seen whose helmets are fastened incorrectly, that is, if they are wearing one at all? Did you almost have a head-on collision with a van or a bus that was speeding toward you on your lane? Try it sometimes for a true foretaste of your own mortality. I don’t think all these happen just in Cebu where I live. Show me someone who is jockeying to be ahead in our crazy traffic, overtaking on blind curves, and making the most reckless lane changes, and I’ll show you someone who is going nowhere.

Just how powerless are we as a people that when we hold a steering wheel we have to be ahead of everyone else—damn the torpedoes! It is a form of cynicism and weakness to accept that the reason we act this way is that everyone else does it. When I see anyone driving this way I see someone who is unable to see the big picture. Most likely their outlook in life is perhaps just as limited. In a sense they have condemned themselves to think in very shortsighted ways—always missing the point that fulfillment in life is to think of one’s place in the context of the whole. That the true meaning of the quality of life takes everyone else’s into account.

I refuse to think that we are incapable of changing this kind of thinking. Filipinos overseas have understood that society functions better when our actions embrace a wider context. Ultimately we need to recognize that the reason we are lagging behind other countries rests in a behavior that impedes our own progress. To my knowledge our “bahala na” attitude does not exist in any other language. I appreciate the Muslim’s way of saying “inshallah”—which at least places the situation in the hands of someone truly powerful. Our form of fatalism smacks of carelessness and a sheer disregard for others. It is sad, and we know we have a lot to answer for. It is reflected in our treatment of the environment, and the way we lackadaisically entrust our fate to those who end up governing our lives for generations to come.

In my own actions I simply ask myself: Do I want to be part of the problem or the solution?

Louis Mateo is a painter and designer residing in Lapu Lapu City, Cebu.