Bicycles And Some 'Amazing' Terminologies
Today is Wednesday, 3rd of June, 2020, and the third day since the government implemented General Community Quarantine (GCQ). This government loves to use such colorful terminologies like Enhanced Community Quarantine, Modified Enhanced, etcetera, which are probably meant to amaze the easily impressed. In most countries, they only use two words: lockdown (for the uninfected) and quarantine (for the sick), if they want to ease some restrictions, they will call it “easing the restrictions,” then they will enumerate the restrictions that will be eased, as simple as that. Nothing enhanced, nothing modified. Here, we quarantine even the healthy and the uninfected. You wonder how many hours do they brainstorm these terminologies. "No, ‘lockdown’ is such a simple word," they probably argued, "we will use words that will shock and awe the masses, to show them how smart we are." If only this inept-in-every-way government would also put that much effort in thinking of plans that would contain the virus and help and favor the public.
Anyways, GCQ means that more establishments will be opened and many more workers will be allowed to go to work and more people can now go out unrestricted, except the seniors and the youth (21 below). The catch: not all modes of transportation were allowed and the result was chaos in the streets—commuters being forced and tortured to walk for hours.
For three days, I’ve been trying to log on to the website of
Social Security System (SSS) to see if I can pay my contributions online—I
couldn’t enter the site. I gave up after 2,792 tries. Then, last night, while I
was trying to sleep, I remembered that I also had a problem entering the site a
few years ago because of my browser, which is Mozilla Firefox. I used another
browser and finally entered the site, only to find that my account has been
locked—maybe, because of my 2,792 attempts to enter it. Incidentally, SSS' preferred browser is Internet Explorer, which I though got extinct with the dinosaurs.
My sister proudly informed us today that she received an email from her four-year-old son’s school, telling her that the boy received the Annual Academic Excellence Award—With High Honors for the year 2019-2020. No surprise there because the boy is really smart. I am reminded of an anecdote my sister’s kasambahay told us a few months ago: she was taking the boy to the school when the security guard talked to her. “The teachers are talking about that boy,” the guard told her, referring to my nephew. “He’s the only student here of his age who can read, Tagalog or English, fluently.”
So bicycle is the vehicle of the hour. A lot of people are resorting to bikes these days since some modes of transportation are still restricted. I say, continue restricting other vehicles even after this virus crisis, then, create safe (meaning, it is separated from the cars by a sturdy rail or plant boxes, not just by paint) covered (if it isn't asking too much), interconnected bike lanes (aside from covered, convenient, plant-lined walkways) and headache-inducing heavy traffic will be a thing of the past.
Bikes are fun, dependable, healthy, inexpensive,
won’t anger and depress you, don’t need much maintenance, and don’t add to pollution, unlike this government.
Incidentally, today, June 3, is World Bicycle Day.
Comments