Have you ever wondered why a traffic enforcer would flag you down when you change lanes while making a turn and accuse you of "swerving" and would immediately ask for your license and feel if its "thick enough" to buy him and his cohorts lunch. After haggling for your license you see a Jeepney suddenly veered towards the curb from the inner lane (mind you the thoroughfare has four lanes for each side), stopped on the middle of the 3rd and 4th lane with its back side sticking out to supposedly "protect" its interest in hauling unsuspecting passengers for their ride to hell. At the same time you see a motorcycle with 2 back-riders cruising along at 30-40 KPH zigzagging between sidewalk vendors and pedestrians walking AT THE SIDEWALK. Also at the same time a pissed-off bus driver chases another bus driver who cut him off at the previous intersection with a bravado of a teenager who recently had his student license and is high on solvent, rugby, and what-have-you. The chase is reminiscent of the old action movies wherein the hero is chased by his arch-enemy with its hapless passengers clinging on for dear life. Also at the same time, a group of knuckleheads decided to play Russian Roulette while crossing the street amidst this chaos while using the foot-bridge as cover for the sun..
Its like watching "Cloverleaf" and "Vantage Point" with the intensity of WWE without the scripted acts.
If I were to make sense of it all, I think the traffic enforcer is deeply concerned for your safety so much so that he picked you out of the chaotic boulevard just to point out your supposed "violation" and expect to be handsomely rewarded for his efforts. The rationale for the violation was (this is verbatim according to him) "Bawal ho mag-swirbing dahil mababangga kayo nang mga dyip o bus na dumadaan dito".
Comforting, isn't it...
