RAIGE-O-LOGY

Lately, it seems like I've been going out quite a bit. This time, I'm heading to my boss's store located at a gas station somewhere in the middle of Clark. They'll be providing me with transportation allowances for the three weeks of training in Pasig City. Hmm... transportation allowances. It seems that they expect me to commute back and forth from Pampanga to Manila every day for the duration of the training. Since I don't have a place to stay in Manila and I don't want to rent a room, that's pretty much going to be my routine. My boss hands me the allowances for the first week and wishes me good luck in my training. Despite her appearance resembling an antagonist in a Tagalog movie (I hope she never reads this), she's actually very kind. During the orientation, we were informed that we need to wear a specific uniform for the training, including black slacks, black socks, and black shoes (yes, they have to be black). We will temporarily wear white polo...

I settled down on a grimy bench, inhaling the chilly night air. The hour was approaching midnight, and the vendors across the street were beginning to shut down their stalls. A few meters away, tricycle drivers engaged in a spirited debate about the usual topics: politics, motorcycles, alcohol, and women. Amidst this scene, I noticed a cat lying in front of a closed souvenir shop, blood trickling from its nose, and its breath shallow. It appeared the cat had been defeated in a street fight by a larger opponent. Despite pedestrians bustling by, no one seemed to take notice of this wounded warrior in their midst. Even when someone nearly stepped on the poor creature, it remained invisible, detached from their reality. The cat existed, yet it seemed entirely absent. Compelled by empathy, I approached the cat to assess its condition. With a gentle prod of my foot, it lashed out in delirium, claws scraping against my skin. The feline still possessed a flicker of a fight. To calm its anger, ...

I arrived at the training center slightly earlier than expected. To pass the time before the orientation, I decided to grab breakfast from a nearby convenience store, ironically a competitor of the company I was training for. I couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't placed their own store near the training center. After a quick fifteen-minute meal, I pondered how to spend the remaining hour. Just then, the store employees began mopping the floor right where I was sitting, indicating that either my allotted time was up (if there even was one) or the person was simply being rude. I left the store and headed back to the training center, only to find the office still closed. With nothing else to do, I settled in to wait. After what felt like an eternity, someone finally arrived and opened the door. She questioned my presence there, to which I provided the obvious answer. Thankfully, she allowed me inside the office. I had to wait a bit longer before the speaker arrived and guided...

At 5am, I found myself on a tricycle on my way to the bus terminal. Recently, I gratefully accepted a management position at a well-known convenience store. Unlike the trendy call center agent jobs, this new role offered good pay without excessive stress. I was headed to Manila, the location of their main office, for a pre-training orientation that I had only learned about the night before. The expectation was for me to be there by 9am. Being a seasoned commuter in Manila wouldn't have posed a problem, but unfortunately, I wasn't one. So, I had to leave four hours earlier. While I had mastered the commuting pattern to Divisoria, this was an entirely different place I was heading to - Pasig City. Despite the straightforward instructions they had sent me via text, my somewhat decent sense of direction, and the multitude of Manila residents I could ask for directions, it still felt like an adventure for someone like me. When I arrived at the nearest Philippine Rabbit bus terminal ...