Improving our public conduct

I came across an article the other day that showed a signage reminding Filipinos to be quiet while riding the bus.

Although this sign was placed to call out the attention of our kababayans in Taiwan, such an appeal goes very well for all of us in our own motherland. I can’t help but notice how sometimes we forget that our behavior in public can affect the people around us.

Whether it is about falling in line, holding the elevator for another. or turning the volume down at a restaurant so people can converse comfortably is enough for any of us to tell that common courtesy is observed.

We are a festive kind of people and this trait about us is genuinely known worldwide.

But on the flip side, we too are known for evading common public decorum that essentially shows the respect we have for each other or others for that matter.

It has become quite a habit of ours to say “pasensiya na” when we cut through people or omit doing something correctly, thinking that by saying so we are excused, and hence making our actions somewhat acceptable.

Over and over again I see this kind of behavior on the streets while driving. Jeepney and taxi drivers waving their hands out of their windows to allow them to pass first even if you have the right of way perfectly describes how being ahead is their primary concern and observing traffic rules remains in the back seat.

Embarrassingly enough,  I have once witnessed  a foreigner making a full stop while walking on the pedestrian lane so that the driver in a private vehicle will realize that she was observing common road courtesy. It was certainly a sight to see as the Lady stood there fiercely just to make a point.

The “unahan” mentality seems to be the reason why we fail at conducting ourselves accordingly and whether we like to hear it or not, other people take notice.

The same goes for the reminder placed for us in a bus in Taiwan where sadly, the “pasensiya na po” excuse can no longer be applied and the lesson learned here is that conversations can be made while being aware of our surroundings. 

Sovereign countries have their own cultures and rules and it is important that we keep this in mind just as we expect foreigners to pay us the same regard.  What we practice at home is what we will continue to do anywhere else unless we start to discipline ourselves.

While we sometimes wonder,  more so become upset at foreigners who elicit poor behavior in our country, proper conduct is a mutual undertaking. How we behave leaves a definite impression and it is by doing so that we generate respect.