Morbid indulgence

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

a couple of days ago, we were cruising along c-5 when we saw a group of men by the side of the road hacking away with knives. naturally, i got curious, so i investigated and took in as much as an 80 kph ride would allow. they were attacking a collapsed metal structure, supposedly a billboard but now a piece of junk. so this is what had been happening, the big people on top bombard us with advertisements at the expense of public safety. ever traveled along slex? the place is abundant with billboards. ugly structures, really, since they ruin my view of the beautiful azure sky of metro manila. what's worse is that some of them are built on top of houses! guess what will happen if the wind blew at 140 kph. it's very foolhardy of them (the people who built those billboards). this in mind, i am lead to admire the wisdom of those who chose to put their advertisements in buses and in the lrt. applause applause. snaps for you.

during my early days in college, i ride the shuttle that traverses the skyway. my class starts at 8 so i leave the house at around 6:30 (i was young and naive, so i always go to school early. i know better now.) and in the morning light, you could clearly see the difference between the air in the cities of manila and makati. manila skyline was really dark with smog. makati is more pollution-free. i once read this study about pollution that said standing 20 minutes along taft avenue amounts to smoking 2 packs (?) of cigarettes. however far-fetched the claim may seem, i am leaning towards believing it.

Morbid Indulgencestarted this journey at8/31/2004