day 06... oct 17, 2009
i was going home with rose anne a little past 7pm. i visited the girls in alano and i wanted to get to buhangin a little late (aaawww...) for the reload livewire.
it was on the ulas bridge when two jeepneys ahead of me stopped to load/unload passengers. as they took their time doing so, i wanted to switch lanes. i turned on my left signal light but the pick up truck on the left lane didn't want me to. so i waited for the vehicles in front of me to move on.
without knowing why, i noticed that the same pick up truck that did not give way started harassing me. he swerved my way twice, as if wanting to scare me off the road or perhaps bump into me. a little anxious, i drove slowly (app 30-35 kmph)
since the vehicle in front of me stopped on the road, i decided to take the left lane, getting behind the controversial pick up truck. the driver may have noticed that i was behind him so while he was running app 50kmph, he suddenly stepped on the brakes (with screeching tires!!!), maybe because he wanted me to bump into him. (in such case, the police officers would put the blame on me, being the one behind him)
when i saw into his cunning plan, i switched lanes and drove slowly, only to have him drive slowly as well, blowing his horn at a steady beat the whole time. wanting to just get away from him, i drove faster, leaving him behind. when we got to the matina centerpoint crossing, i beat the red light (oh no, law-breaking!!!) just to get as far from him as possible. to my dismay, he beat the red light as well, tailing me very closely.
as we neared the stop light on the mcarthur-ecoland crossing, i had to stop (since the light was red). here came the truck, stopping only inches away from the car (i thought he would really run into me). he banged his fist on the side mirror and broke it. (he damaged the car!!! huhu) my heart was beating so fast, i felt it would actually explode. i scurried over my my things, looking for my cellular phone to call 911 but to no avail. he banged furiously on the window (i thought it would break into pieces anytime soon) as he yelled "hoy! abrihi na!" (hey, open that).
i was just trembling, along with roseanne. i whispered, "Lord, protect us". i began to think that he was able to do much harm because even just by hitting the side mirror, he broke it with one blow. i saw his face, red and mad. he looked like a big man, about in his early fifties. i then contemplated opening the window, thinking that he would probably mellow down upon seeing that i was a lady driver. yet, judging from the way he flared up, he might not be the tyoe of guy who would give consideration to the "weaker sex" as they say.
seeing that his efforts were futile, he began tugging on the door handle. he did it repeatedly so hard that i thought he would break it, too. (he was still seated inside his car yet he could reach the handle, can you imagine how close he was?!) indeed, there was no other Name that we called except Jesus. fearful thoughts entered our minds, especially as roseanne declared that he might have a gun.
after a few seconds (they felt like forever), the light turned green. as i slowly moved forward, he did, too! ever so slowly to stay right by my side the whole time. when we got to the junction, he immediately turned right, heading for the direction of ecoland.
thus, i failed to get his plate number. the few instances of harassment from ulas to matina, i was willing to bear so even when i had the chance to be directly behind him, taking down his license plate number did not enter my mind. after the climax of his harassment, i did not have the chance. i was too weak, perhaps, to turn back and go after him for that sole purpose. so i drove home with the side mirror hanging on the right side, trembling. was it out of fear or relief? i didn't know.
as i got home, i relayed the entire event to the last detail to my family. i spoke animatedly, still feeling the heat of the adrenaline rush. as i prepared to sleep that night, the scenes still flashed in my head. i kept asking why... i would have understood if i cut him off or overtook him in some way but the fact that it was he who would not give way and i did not even retaliate in the smallest of ways boggled my mind.
i thanked the Lord again and again the entire night for His protection. no permanent damage was done and roseanne and i were unharmed. i realized right then and there that the enemy may have been trying to dissuade me from visiting alano again at night or he may have been jeering me on my previous blog about freedom vs. safety. i wouldn't know.
all i knew at that very moment was that i was alive and whatever happened could never stop me from fulfilling my mission. that nameless driver may have thought that he fought me too hard, he may have even puffed himself up with the thought that he inflicted damage to the car. little did he know that a Christian is never destroyed by what surrounds as long as Jesus is the strength from within. weee!!! pressed but not crushed...
...it took me long to finish this blog, talk about being emotional... hehe
