I woke up a bit earlier than usual because I will be going out that Thursday morning to collect my consultancy fee somewhere in the northern part of Manila.
Yes, you got it right. I am doing consultancy work since January 2021, after deciding not to sign up for a contract of service writing job for the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) which has been my second home since March 2016.
Because I'll be coming from home getting a Grab car was easy, in fact, it only took less than five minutes to book my ride. It was 10:30 in the morning, so I expect to be at my destination in about an hour or so. And like in my previous visits, the released of my pay envelope was short and swift, which took me roughly 15 minutes including the line at the elevator.
Excited to go home for lunch as Honey was waiting for me, I started to book for Grab, unfortunately, the rate was too high, but I managed to get one for me although it will cost me another 10 minutes of waiting. Eventually, I lost the connection to the booked
Grab rider. I then informed my partner about my situation, so from her end she booked another ride. After a couple of attempts from my end and to her, she succeeded. She was able to book me for a ride home with 10 minutes of waiting time again.
As I comfortably sit in the car, I heard the Waze directing the driver in Edsa's direction, knowing that would be too far from the usual route I informed the driver that taking Edsa is not good. He replied by asking me if I know the right direction, I told him I am not from the place so I m not familiar with the turns. But I told him that from my previous rides, after taking off the exit with few turns we often end up either in Dimasalang, Lacson, or Blumentritt area.
However, as I explained to the driver, he did not bother to slow down or to stop to check what could be our better direction instead he followed the instruction provided to him by the Waze map. But to make it more unacceptable from Edsa he made a reroute blaming the heavy traffic which to him was unbearable.
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| No preventive barrier in this ride. The photo was taken by this passenger, while the car traversed Edsa on Thursday, December 9, 2021at 12:52pm. |
Despite the sounds he made implying that he was disgusted with our much farther and longer travel, I did not bother to make any more comment although deep inside I was fuming mad especially when we made another detour because the road is being constructed therefore it's not passable.
Imagine me at the back of that car with low ventilation to almost none in the middle of the afternoon, and there was not even a barrier that serves as another layer of protection for a passenger like me against possible infection. I believe that it is still important and necessary that car services such as Grab should maintain and keep the standard of safety and protection that their customers deserve considering the much higher rate being charged to passengers.
Also, Grab Management must also look into the possibility of providing your drivers at least possible routes instead of allowing them to depend on Waze applications particularly during this Christmas Holidays and more and more vehicles are out in the public making traffic routes much heavier. That way, we all can avoid an INESSENTIAL TRIP that is unhealthy to our drivers, passengers, and the roads because we add to the problems due to vehicular congestion, which in essence is not only bad for the economy, and health but also for the environment.
I hope that Grab Management will look beyond the complaints and will instead provide reforms that will rectify the basics in driving especially here in Metro Manila to avoid similar incidents from happening again.
By the way, the ride back home was booked at 12:14 pm, and I arrived at the destination at 1:57pm.