These past two days, not as usual, I went to work without driving my personal vehicle. Actually, I am just bored doing the same thing (driving) everyday and day. So, I decided to take public transportation as my way to go to work.

As you may already know, public transportation in Jakarta is.. well… not that good. Compared to other metropolitan cities, Jakarta’s public transportation system is super inconvenient. Even though the government already facilitates the public with Trans Jakarta, people still have to wait for a long time before the buses arrive. Then, there are lots of people using that same kind of transportation so the bus will be full, even overloaded. Some of additional facilities in Trans Jakarta also need to be repaired. In one of the buses I use the door can’t be closed properly. See? Even the best public transportation in Jakarta (well, at least in my opinion) is not that comfortable.

However, I always love the experience of traveling by public transportation. I realized that by using public transportation, I can sharpen my social senses. Well, maybe there’s no such thing as social senses, but I can say so because I can be more conscious about my surroundings. I really like to observe around, see what other people doing, try to guess what they feel, what they did, or what are they going to do. Those things can make me reflect to myself.

On the first day I used Trans Jakarta, I saw the driver of Trans Jakarta stops every once in a while to give street cleaners some food and drinks. I wonder why that driver do that. I really feels like I am being reminded about giving and gratefulness. The driver himself maybe still in need of foods but he gave the food to others. Why couldn’t I do that as well?

Then, when I went home, I used the 612 bus. I used that bus to travel from my house to school when I was in high school. It was a long time before yesterday I used the bus again. The 612 buses are still moving like a snail. It was so slow that 15 minutes normal ride becomes 30 minutes ride. When I was in that bus, I saw three women sitting and talking. Looking at their appearance, it was clear that they are career women. They were going to have dinner and then go back to their office. It was like 7 p.m. and they were having a short break before they continue working!! Life is hard, baby!

By looking at other people’s work, courage, spirit, and will; I can learn so much. Learning isn’t always have to associated with books, classes, and schools because life itself is also the biggest media to learn.