BAD TRIP 3: Daig DAW ng Maagap ang Masipag

Long lines stretched way back at the immigration counters in NAIA yesterday. I've just arrived from Colombo via Singapore. Flights from different parts of the world must have arrived almost at the same time. Tired and sleepy, I was in no mood to make small talk with fellow passengers. I just wanted to get out of there and be home in bed.

Just as I was nearing the immigration officer, a fifty-ish woman approached me from behind, all the way from the back of the line. “Meron bang ibang lines para sa Pinoy? Wala naman no?” she asked me with a big smile. To the others waiting in line, we must have appeared to be together. “Wala naman po”, I answered rather curtly because I already had an inkling what she was up to.

True enough, she didn’t leave my side and brazenly slipped in line, still talking to me like we were old friends. Kapal ng mukha. The foreigner behind me couldn’t do anything except frown. On the next line, three other Pinoys did the same trick, neatly overtaking foreigners who were queuing patiently.

Ha hay, bakit kaya marami sa pinoy ang hilig-hilig lumamang. Mahilig sa shortcut, sa instant. In other instances, it may be perceived as abilidad. Or even ingenuity. To me, it reeks of dishonesty. We complain about corruption and yet we do it in our own little ways.