Image Credit

My sister’s boyfriend commutes to work from Mondays to Fridays, early evening. He is on a perpetual night shift working as an auditor at a well-known 5-star hotel. He has a sedan sitting at home but he figured it would be quicker to go to work riding the bus or the train. He almost always chose the bus because it’s more convenient he could take a nap while on the road. But commuting to work has its disadvantages and one of those things is riding the public transportation with pickpockets. His mobile phone was taken from him. Twice! Even when he thought that his belongings were safe.

After the second time that his mobile phone was taken, a brand new one at that, he resolved to drive to work. Good thing that traffic is light at night. He just had to check car detailing services prices and avail of one because his car had been sitting in his garage for some time and had been used sporadically before his decision to drive to work daily.

But with the high prices of gasoline and diesel products, his transportation budget is getting a killing. He is thinking of going back to commuting and, maybe, driving to work twice a week instead. I commute to work daily so he asked me how I stay safe while inside the bus or the train.

Here are two things that must be done while commuting to stay safe.

Be aware of your surroundings. There are days when a ride is truly safe. You can feel it in your gut and I do trust my instinct. I don’t sleep. I used to but it has become a no-no especially when the pandemic hit and a lot of people lost their jobs. Many have become desperate and you can’t truly fault them because hungry people will do everything in order to eat. I also make sure to tuck my bag at my side where I feel it is safe. These are not fool-proof ways to stay safe but being aware of your surroundings, getting a feel of the people around you, are just steps to secure yourself while inside a public vehicle.

Wear your mask and know your stop. Safety in terms of health is also a must when commuting through a public transportation. So, wear your masks. There are sick people who don’t show outward symptoms. Always keep that in mind. You should also know your stop so that you know when to get up from your seat and wait for the bus to stop. A lot of people are getting robbed while getting off the bus or the train, when they are rushing off because they miscalculated their stop. Again, keep that in mind.

And say a little prayer whenever you go out of the house. I come a prayerful family so that is one thing that I always do as well.

Again, not fool-proof ways to stay safe but, based on my experience, effective ways to adopt to avoid pickpockets and the like.