Pasa load

Net and Dei recently wrote their views on the irony that is the Filipino urban poor. I couldn’t blame them both. For the most part, I fully agreed with what they wrote.

In particular, Dei starts ranting with:

mahirap ang buhay pero ultimo tricycle drivers at street sweepers eh naka-cellphone. wag ka, modelo pa! well, mahirap nga naman buhay kasi wala silang pang-load...

(Times are hard but even tricycle drivers and streetsweepers use mobile phones and the latest models at that! Well, times may be hard because they don’t have money to buy call/text cards.)

This reminds me of what happened last Tuesday after work. I took the bus and traffic was hellish as usual along the length of Ortigas Avenue. I considered myself lucky to be seated after traversing 2km in 30 minutes. I was pre-occupied on the first 30 minutes with doing a balancing act among not falling over the persons standing before me, securing my things, and taking a peek at the on-board television every now and then. (Yes people, buses in Metro Manila are air-conditioned, have colored TV sets, and radios.) Alas, the TV lost its charm. Reception was bad and I couldn’t see Dyesebel and Fredo, it could have been just a radio feed. It was right then that I took out my trusty cellphone and played games.

I was on an aisle seat on a 3-seater with a student wearing a garishly orange skirt and a 50-ish lady. The student was hastily fiddling with her cellphone which is nothing unusual. I thought we were ok with minding each other’s business when the girl suddenly turned to the old lady and mumbled something. I wasn’t listening to her and it turned out that it was the old lady’s stop so she had to leave.

The girl then turned to me and spoke: “Ate, may load ka? Pa-pasa load naman. Babayaran na lang kita.” (Big sister, do you have phone credits? Could you send some over to my phone? I’ll just pay you instead.)

I said: “Wala” (None). [Liar liar pants on fire…] To which she countered while looking at me incredulously, “Wala kang load!?!?!? (You don’t have call credits???)

Wow. She had the gall to say that. Hooray for beggars with balls of lead!

Yup. I have a fancy phone but I don’t have call credits, none for you! There’s a convenience store 3 stops from here, go get your “load” there.

“Hindi pa ako sumusweldo eh,” I added later and then thought Pakialam mo? May nakapaskil ban a pasa-load sa noo ko? (What do you care? Do I have a sign on my forehead that says PASA LOAD?) She didn’t hear those last two lines from me. That would be too much drama.

Come on people. If you really got to have a cellphone (enter vice/addiction here), make sure you can sustain living with one. Yes, this includes buying call and text credits yourself and not harrassing others for it.

*Pasa load – a transaction where call or text credits are bought and sent to the phone electronically, either by another private phone subscriber or a call credits vendor.

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