Tricycle Tribute

On a clear night I instinctively took a tricycle to Ministop, a local convenient store a few blocks away from my dusty room. The stars smiled and it was during an hour where traffic disintegrated. I waved a tricycle driver down and told him the familiar destination. As soon as I crouched my body into the white rusty sidecar, the ground began to dematerialize from under the small wheels. As my hair wisped lightly against my cheeks, I looked up toward the sky that was dulled by the florescent city lights. We whizzed through cracked back roads and when I looked to my left, in-between the driver’s legs sat his no more then three-year-old daughter on the hub of the bike. She straddled the bike as if it was the body of a cheetah. No safely precautions, only the stalwart support of her father’s spine in which she rested against. She sat their safe and balanced as her brown curly hair was swept away from her face. She looked down at me and giggled, her few newly submerged teeth showed. I knew then that this little girl had grown up flying around the streets of Manila, on a tricycle. After I paid the driver a fare of 15 pesos I walked into Ministop, and when I returned, the driver and his little girl lined up behind the many other sleeping tricycle drivers. As the driver sat back on his bike, his daughter cuddled up on his protruding stomach and took a nap under the concrete towers of Manila.

A tricycle or trike is a simple motorcycle with a covered sidecar. No seat belt. No door. No suspension system. So while your riding through the back streets of Manila, you feel every bump, crack, thump or thud vibrating through the plastic covered seat cushion.During the day the sun beats down on the streets of the city. Filipinos, caring bags of groceries, schoolbooks, and briefcases walk with heavy steps through heat and humidity. Along the curbside tucked in little pockets of the street wait tricycle drivers. Their tricycles tightly crammed together bumper to bumper. Drivers wait patiently on their bikes for new riders. Some stand around on the end of the street chatting with other drivers. Some fill their slouched stomachs with snacks. All of this is done while calling at pedestrians “Trike?” “Trike?”  Tricycles around the Philippines are lovely simple vehicles and although they might be overlooked as a part of everyday life, tricycles are charming little bug-like cars that should be celebrated.

            Tricycles are very small. Drivers like to use this as an excuse for disobeying many of the traffic rules. These small tricycles, lead by lionhearted drivers have the ability to swerve, merge and careen through some of the traffic piles that accumulate on the roads. It is often that one will be caught breathless as a tricycle barely passes a roaring monstrous SUV. These audacious drivers are the only things that save you and the tricycle from looking like a tin can squashed into the concrete.

Filipinos have an amazing ability to sit down humbly in tight spaces, condensing their bodies in order for one more person to squeeze in. It says something about the modest, kind, and trustful collective culture. It is a thing to honor and celebrate. Despite the compact body of the tricycle, this never stops tricycle drivers from loading in as many humans as possible. These are moments when strangers sit so intimately that their skeletons curl together. One can feel the human next to them inhale the breath they have just released. The bikes work tirelessly and their horse hearts haul a weight that seems impossible for a small bike to carry. Two can sit sideways behind the driver on the back of the motorcycle itself. Three can sit within the sidecar; two on the seat and one along the side next to the drivers shins. Some tricycles even have a seat at the rear, which can fit two as they ride backwards, facing the car or tricycle that trails behind.

When the sun sleeps, and the moon aluminates the sky tricycle drivers line up single file tucked in the corners of the streets sleeping.  Tricycle drivers fasten small hammock–like harnesses to the steal bars above that attach the sidecar to the bike.  These are used to support the weight of their stiff backs, as they sleep with their feet propped up on the top of the handlebars. Drivers all around the city masterfully sleep balanced upon the heart of their bikes dreaming, until a passenger requests a lift.

The Philippines should strive to keep aspects of original culture alive; the tricycle is a perfect example. Although some might argue that tricycles should be eliminated due to their contribution to pollution, it would be a disaster to see them disappear from the streets. With technology as advanced as it is, by imposing regulations that keep the vehicles more environmentally friendly we can keep these tricycles continuously scurrying through the back roads. Cruising down the streets on wild, colorful, and beetle like tricycles must be celebrated. Tricycles deliver Filipinos all around the city, they are responsible for keeping the city in motion, creating close relationships amongst strangers, and providing a breeze against your cheeks if you want to escape the stagnant heat. The rhythm of a tricycle motor runs parallel and synchronizes to the heartbeats of Filipino citizens. Without them, life would be a lot less exciting.

 By Lyra Dietrich  091258

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