I live in Sucat Parañaque.

The higher paying call center jobs are located in Makati.

The travel time is usually one hour going to work.

Sometimes I’ll need one a half-hour because of traffic.

Sometimes the problem is a lack of transportation options.

The travel time going home can be anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours.

I’ll use the example of my previous job.

I used to work for West Contact Services.

In 2015, WCS was purchased by Alorica.

Our office is located at Export Bank Plaza.

That building is at the corner of Buendia Avenue and Pasong Tamo Extension.

My shift is usually at 1 am or 2 am.

I leave the house between 11:30m to midnight, depending on my shift.

I will still need to leave the house early, even if my work starts later.

There are fewer transportation options after midnight.

It’s almost impossible to get a grab.

There aren’t a lot of taxis.

Just to give you a summary, here’s what I ride going to work.

I take a tricycle from our subdivision to Sucat Road.

When I get to Sucat road, I take a Jeepney to the SLEX bus station.

When I get to the SLEX bus station, I take a bus heading northbound, and I get off at Makati.

I get off at Magallanes station.

I walk toward the Pasong Tamo Jeepney stop and ride a Jeepney toward the Export bank building.

Now that you have an idea of the ride, I’ll give you the details of what happens during the commute.

My shift is usually after midnight.

There’s often less tricycle passing through our subdivision’s main road.

Most of the time, there is no tricycle.

I have to walk for twenty minutes to get to the jeepney stop.

When I get to the jeepney stop at Sucat Road, there aren’t many jeeps on the road.

I usually have to wait fifteen minutes to get a jeep.

If I’m unlucky, I’ll wait for twenty minutes.

Sometimes I have to wait for ten minutes.

If I’m lucky, I have to wait for five minutes.

If I’m extremely lucky, there’s a jeep passing by as I get to the exit of our subdivision.

I often find myself running and screaming to get a jeepney driver’s attention when I see one far away.

If the driver waits for me so I can take that jeep, I’ll be saved.

I don’t have to wait 5-15 minutes for another jeep.

The jeep ride is about five minutes because there’s no traffic.

I get off at the SLEX bus stop.

I walk toward the Northbound bus stop.

One problem with the Sucat SLEX intersection late at night is there aren’t a lot of cars.

If there are no cars, the cars that do pass by tend to speed up.

So I’m on the alert whenever I’m crossing the street.

I know from experience how horrible a car accident is.

I’d like to avoid one whenever possible.

I remove my headphones and pay extra attention when I cross the street.

When I get to the bus stop, here’s what happens.

On a normal day with no problems, I hop on the bus, and I’m going to get off at Makati after 30 minutes.

Here are some of the problems that I encounter.

The bus either takes a long time to get to the station.

I’ll wait for 20-30 minutes for the next bus to arrive.

One time, I had to wait for almost an hour before the next bus got to Sucat.

Sometimes the bus stays for 30-45 minutes before leaving the bus Sucat SLEX bus stop.

Sometimes both things happen, and the bus part of my journey becomes one and a half hours.

When I get to Magallanes, here’s the situation.

On a normal day, I get dropped off at the far end of the road, exactly between the Ayala MRT station and the Magallanes MRT station.

I’d have to walk 600 meters or so to get to the corner.

After midnight, the bus stops closer to the Magallanes station, and I only had to walk 300 meters or so I’d have to walk and pass under the Magallanes flyover.

If you’ve never passed under the Magallanes flyover late at night, here’s a description.

The area under the Magallanes flyover is like the perfect setting of a crime or horror story.

The place doesn’t have a lot of people.

It’s dark, and it smells like pee.

You always feel like someone’s following you.

You always have to watch your back.

You always have to check dark corners before passing.

You’ll see rats and cockroaches.

When you get to the jeep stop, you experience the same problem as the earlier jeep and bus ride.

Sometimes there are no jeeps in the station.

Sometimes there’s a jeep that’s waiting for passengers.

The driver won’t move the jeep until the ride is full.

The actual jeep ride is between seven to twelve minutes.

Sometimes the driver waits for 20 minutes.

Sometimes, the jeep stops for gas.

Sometimes the gas station attendant is asleep, so it’ll take another ten minutes for the jeep to leave.

The gas station is a ten-minute walk away from the gas station. So if the gas attendant is slow and I’m already late, I do the logical thing.

I get off the jeep, and I run.

If I run, I can get to work in four minutes.

Sometimes, if the jeep’s wait time is too long and I need to get to work immediately, I take a taxi from the jeep stop.

The ride costs 60 pesos and keeps me working for the company a little longer.

The taxi trip is about five minutes.

As you already know, repeatedly going to work late will get you fired.

So I pay the 60 pesos to avoid going to work late.

Whenever I pay 60 pesos, I also feel like I saved myself from having a horrible day.

I get off at the McDonalds at the corner of Buendia and Pasong Tamo.

I cross the street toward Export bank.

If I’m cutting it too close to my shift, I run to the elevator.

If I have time, I will buy coffee from McDonald’s or snacks from the Mini Stop downstairs.

I usually get two pieces of fried chicken or two large siopao.

I also get an iced coffee.

I need energy for my shift.

I arrive close to my shift.

I do my best to get there 15 or 30 minutes before.

I want to settle in before my shift starts.

I also enjoy my work if the best me is out during my first call.

I get a good workstation.

I get my jacket from my locker.

It’s usually freezing where I work.

I get my computer running.

I set up my tools.

I log in, and I start working.

My commute home has a different story.

But that’s for another time.

I count 103 sentences.

In case you feel like checking, I use this tool to check the number of sentences.

https://www.textfixer.com/tools/online-sentence-counter.php

Written by Kevin Olega.