Finding One's Way in Sydney

Eleanor Trinchera

I have been on the road for several years now and courteous drivers are slowly becoming an extinct species. There would be days when I’d really get tempted to be rude and mean as other people could be, but then again and again, I would stop in my way. For it could mean the end of me.


I never liked driving to work, especially at the time when I was working in the Sydney Central Business District. The city has a lot of one-way streets mad with traffic during peak hours and I just hate navigating through those routes. I prefer to take public transport where I can just sit if I get an early train or stand if I get the peak-hour one. From my suburb to the city is a good 20- to 30-minute ride.

Then I changed jobs and ended working in Alexandria, a suburb not far from the CBD. But it is only accessible via the Airport Line, a private network, which means I have to pay more for my weekly tickets. When I was in the City, I only paid $32 a week. Now I had to fork out $46 a week and I had to change trains halfway through.

Then someone suggested driving to work. I said I couldn’t be stressed out driving daily when all I have to do is just sit or stand or read on the train. But then I kept on complaining that my colleague persisted, until I finally tried driving one day. The first time, I made a mistake. I took a wrong turn and ended up going to the City. I cursed myself, stopped, then took my map. I don’t have a GPS and I don’t intend to buy one ever. I found my way and soon I was heading off to my workplace. To cut the story short, I ended up driving every day.

Driving to work everyday gives me a glimpse of this society’s values. I get to know what kind of people I live with and navigate the road with, day after day. I like those I can be safe with: those who let you know what they’re up to, whether they’re changing lanes or making turns. When they actually make the move, I who follow right behind, get to react accordingly. I like that. You get the right cues and you feel there’s a friend out there.

So at turns, I’d return the favor and it felt nice if those I gave way to acknowledged or appreciated the gesture, especially so when I could see that they were in difficult situations like entering traffic or making a turn somewhere where the queue was really long. But there are those bastards, too, who just go on their merry way without even raising a hand in acknowledgment of your good deed! In such times, I’d end up muttering and cursing at people’s ungratefulness and feeling sorry I weren’t as rude and selfish as they are! And if I was really mad, I’d shout after them “Salamat”! But of course, they would be belches of smoke away to hear me and it was only my sorry self I shouted my thanks to!

On really bad days, I’d get drivers who couldn’t see I was right behind them until the last minute when they’d made those sudden turns. They’d indicate to me that they’re turning left when they’re already turning left! So I could never get a chance to change lanes, especially when drivers on the other lanes couldn’t also be bothered with giving way. These are the days when I really feel like screaming crisp expletives at them, in Tagalog at that, but then of course, I'd stop myself and remind myself that this is not my country, I might not get away that easy.

I have been on the road for several years now and courteous drivers are slowly becoming an extinct species. There would be days when I’d really get tempted to be rude and mean as other people could be, but then again and again, I would stop in my way. For it could mean the end of me. I know that there are drivers who can get really very aggressive. I have witnessed several altercations, drivers jumping off their cars and abusing other drivers. I just know that I can’t stand situations like those. The thing is, to take extra care, to make note which types of drivers to avoid.

If some members of society exhibit these attitudes on the road, when driving, it should not be surprising if in shopping malls people who bump into you would also not pause to apologize but would even look at you menacingly like they wished they could hit you, too. As though it was your fault. On buses and trains, there would even be non-paying children who would not even offer their seats to paying passengers. These same children would even shout at you for walking on the streets, calling you Asian or some other more specific racial address. All of these happen in a society famed for valuing equal opportunity and multiculturalism.

Makes me think what kind of a society is this that I live in? A friend said it: "It all boils down to the color of your skin.”

Could that be so?