A drizzle and occasional large drops of rain which fell few and far between -- who would think big of it? Definitely not me. Do I bring out my umbrella? Nah, I thought, as I stepped out of Ministop. Too much effort. So that's how it was until I reached the station.
Down at the platform, the air was thick with something that felt heavy and weird. Weirder still was the fact that I could easily count the people waiting for the familiar rumble of metal against metal. At 6:50 p.m.? Now this was definitely one for the books.
The trip was uneventful. Except for the booming clap of thunder midway through the ride which startled and woke me up from my pseudoslumber. I could imagine the folks around looking at me, some perhaps trying to conceal laughter at the spectacle of someone suddenly and involuntarily throwing his arms sideways out of surprise. To which I responded: Fuck off, douchebags!
Getting off, it was mayhem. Five million Filipinos were waiting past the turnstiles, hoping the downpour would stop soon. Twelve million others were on the stairs trying to get out of that hellhole, patient ones with umbrellas and assholes without. It took a good half-hour to get from the top of the stairs to the foot. And the bedlam didn't end there.
As the rain flooded a good part of the metropolis, one could see fewer and fewer vehicles traversing the road -- including buses. No problem, I'll just wait it out. There's no hurry to get home, and no place to go to either. So wait it out I did, with Ely Buendia in my mind bellowing how he's drinking his beer and watching his tears going southbound.
Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Then thirty. Still waiting there. Holy crap, is it armageddon already? Then I decided to walk away. In the hard, drenching rain. Where to? I don't know, maybe anywhere. So long as I'm doing something, even if my umbrella had a couple of holes on it.
The long, hard trek followed. Commuters thinned out as I went. Ely was still singing, even if I wasn't waiting for a goddamn bus anymore. But who was I to complain? Sure, my shoes and feet got wet. But it felt nice to be walking out in the rain once more.
