A Day in the Life of Anselmo 3

Traffic's really fast. It's not like Metro Manila (yes, I've been there! I hate the traffic!) Are there cops? Sure there are, but they're not as abusive as they used to be. I remember cops used to bilk my dad of money when he drove the van to market back when I was a kid.

So I'm driving. Traffic's really going on smoothly, thanks to a lot of new stuff on the road that the EOGC put up. There are cameras on the posts and barriers on the roads that come down when the light is green and go up when it's red. Trust me, you do not want to know what happens when you're too late to try to beat a red light. All I'll say is you have to buy a new set of tires to replace the ones that get messed up trying to cross the barriers.

Then there are the cops.

Yep, they're still here.

They don't try to fleece you anymore. It's passe. They have a new gimmick. Ever since the Takeover, the government has been trying to project an image that it's cleaning up on its act.

Pathetic, if you'd ask me to describe it in one word. They still use the same rewards system in a lame new way.

Here's what they do: a cop "catches" you "committing a traffic violation." He walks over to you to give you a ticket. But instead of asking for your money, he actually offers to pay you to accept the ticket. He offers you P100 and the ticket. Funny? Because every time they report a traffic violation, they get a pay raise.

Uh, oh. There's a red light up ahead. Okay, I'm slowing down. I look at my watch; it's 6:00. Cool. Still got a lot of time-

Cripes!

It's a traffic aide. He's coming to my car, pretending to look around. Yeah, right. I know what comes next. He's knocking on my window.

"Excuse me, sir," he says as I lower the window. "Do you realize you're moving too slow that you're holding up the line coming from the intersection back there?"

"What?" I moan.

"I'm gonna have to give you a ticket, sir. " I can see the P100 bill right underneath it.

I've had enough of this.

I gaze at him irritably. The light's about to go green again. The cameras are turning in our direction. An impish thought comes into my brain. I reach into my right front pocket and pull out SS1.

"Here!" I snap, slapping the SS1 on top of the ticket as the traffic light turns green. I speed off the next moment and the damn fool has just noticed that the cameras are looking at him. Tomorrow he's not going to approach me again for sure. Ha ha. Not my problem. Let's just say his boss'll give him a sermon and he'll stay off the street for a couple of days.

I'm driving off to the station, laughing to myself. And I catch sight of my boss, Mr. Rodriguez. He's standing at the entrance of the station, reprimanding employees for coming late. He always gets there ahead. I wonder how he does that. He used to work for the railroads in Japan. Not surprising he was hired by the EOGC.

"Anselmo Sanchez," he says, pointing a finger at me as I park my car and get out with my gear, the other hand's holding his silver pocket watch. That watch was given to him by Eric Ong himself! I've always wondered if I'll ever be given one of those. "You're supposed to be here by six forty-five! You realize we will be late!"

"Aw, come on chief," I bawl. "Work starts at seven!"

I hurry into the office as I hear Mr. Rodriguez behind me, "We have to set an example, Mr. Sanchez! We keep the rails moving!"

Keep the rails moving. Yeah, that's it. I know Mr. Rodriguez can be really grumpy at times; but hey, it's our job to make the trains run smoothly. The trains bring the goods that pay our salaries. Yeah, that's my work. This is my office. I'd like to welcome you to the workplace. Come on in!