Standing in Trucks 11

No matter where you go you see them. Pinoys standing or sitting in the beds of trucks or on top of trucks. 

It's very dangerous and foolish as this video from India shows.

Standing In Trucks 10

It's been a while since I've posted one of these.  You see them all the time.  Standing in the back of trucks. Sometimes they even have chairs set out for the occasion.  All it takes is one swerve and everyone will go flying but that never seems to happen.  Lucky.

Picture of the Week: Hang in There

For many Filipinos work and home are synonymous. None more so than construction workers who generally live onsite for the duration of the project which could be several months. For others it could be just a weekend away from home.

It seems these guys are returning back to the shop after a weekend of working the sound system at a fiesta. A close look near their heads reveals a rice cooker and the top of the ever ubiquitous 5 gallon water jug. Perhaps there are also blankets rolled up and tossed onto the speakers and cases. Likely they slept in the truck in shifts with one keeping a watchful eye on the equipment. In the Philippines the party does go all night long.

But why are they riding like this? Why has the equipment been arranged in such a manner that these men cannot comfortably sit down? For that mater why don't they ride home on a motorcycle? Surely one of the men hanging on the back or sitting in the cab have a motorcycle? Why not make arrangements to transport everyone safely if the cab is full? Why drive with the doors open and have two men hanging on the back for dear life risking both the equipment and the men? One quick swerve and all those expensive speakers and soundboards will fall out into the road making quite a mess. Why? Why? Why? Why!?

Well, you know what Alfred Lord Tennyson says:

Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/charge-light-brigade 

Picture of the Week: A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

Everyone sing along with Zazu:

♫ I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts deedlee-dee
There they are, all standing in a row
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head ♫

Well that is way more than just a bunch of coconuts.  It is an entire jeepney stuffed chock full of them! No room has been left for the men who I assume harvested these coconuts. They have to hang on the back for their dear lives. Hopefully none of the coconuts roll off the top or out the windows and into oncoming traffic. That would not be very lovely.

Standing in Trucks 9

I haven't posted one of these in a while but I'm sure you have seen them all over the place in the meantime. It's time for more pictures of Pinoys standing and sitting in the backs of trucks! They don't need no seatbelts!

Standing in Trucks 8

Often in the news there are stories about awful road accidents involving cars and buses and trucks which result in the deaths of scores of people. But I do not recall ever reading any stories about accidents involving trucks full of people packed in like sardines and standing up. If such an accident were to happen it would undeniably be gruesome and bloody and horrible and I would hope the news would have sense enough to show us all the tragic photos of bodies tossed everywhere like confetti so we can all mourn together and say, "How sad."

Standing in Trucks 7

More people standing in the back of trucks.