Realisations During Happy Hour

Late afternoons in Boracay spells "happy hour" for me and my friends.  Since I'm not much of a drinker, I drown myself with mocktails while watching people pass us by as we wait for that majestic sunset.  Normally, half of the gang are experiencing the pristine waters while the rest are just lounging around or playing games.

[caption id="attachment_124" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Who would want to throw their cig butts in this place?[/caption]

Then manong magbabalut came with what I consider one of the best dish Philippines has to offer, the Balut!  So my balut-buddy and I got up and left our chairs, went to the banks away from the beach to eat.  Such action felt quite automatic for us knowing that the island outlawed eating and smoking at the beach last year.

My friend started to puff then she asked me this, "What if they ban smoking not only at the beach but in the entire island?"  My automatic response would be, "well, considering how strictly they are implementing rules here, I guess people will just follow.  They would just get used to it."  And she agreed.

I realised shortly, that yeah, while people like myself got used to eating my food where I should, a step further shouldn't hurt.  If my friend wouldn't mind transferring to a designated area just to smoke or hold the urge if that area is already crowded, then others shouldn't mind as well.  If people in a small island like Boracay responded well to these ordinances, there might be hope for the metro-dwellers.

The scale might be different but I guess benefits would be the same for both geographies.  The beachfront is much cleaner now that tourists and locals hold shared responsibilities in maintaining the island.  I could only imagine how Manila or other cities would benefit if we can show the same discipline.  Who wouldn't want to see people use the elevated walkways instead of crossing the freeway and risk getting hit.  Or when buses stop on designated loading and unloading zones.

Yeah I know its easier said than done.  But we Filipinos are so used to stopping whenever we realise how much of a trouble an action would cause us.  And then later on use that statement to justify our inaction.

Unfortunately, we are starting to lose reasons not to act responsibly and practice discipline at all times.