Wishful Thinking

The most cheerful people that I have ever met are people from the Philippines.  They laugh hard at your jokes, they focus on their families, they are pleasant, and you can hear their laughter from miles away!  Granted everyone is different but I have had the pleasure to meet the very cheerful ones!  Why are they so happy?  Where does that come from?  After living in Manila for three weeks, I have a little theory...

If you ask the residents of Manila - what don't you like about living in this City?  I think most of them will say, "the traffic!".  The congestion in Manila is infamous and is probably one of the worst amongst large Asian cities.  A five kilometer ride can easily take 30 to 40 minutes in bad traffic conditions, an average runner can complete that same distance in his / her running shoes with the same amount of time, if not better.

Since I am new to the city, every time when I get in the taxi, I ask the driver, "how long will it take?"  The answer is always, "oh, it takes ten minutes without traffic, but right now, it will take maybe 30 minutes".  I have asked and the drivers have answered without fail - this amount of time with no traffic and this amount of time in current condition.  I ask myself, "How often do the drivers experience no traffic (if any) and why do they always tell you the no traffic time first?"  My theory is that it is wishful thinking on the drivers' part.  They have to believe that they will get to the destination, without obstacle, in a certain amount of time so that when they are faced with bumper to bumper traffic, their road rage doesn't take over.  Maybe, like the drivers, the Filipinos that I know have been trained to be hopeful and to see the brighter side of life so that they are not depressed by the poverty and inequality that surround them...