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Sleeping in public

tao posted on Jan 13, 2007 | views: 531 | Tags: sleep, City life, only in the philippines
Many of us well-settled city folk bear a seige mentality. We view our homes as a fortress where we can safely rest and refresh ourselves, before we sally forth anew into the chaotic urban war zone. So we do most of our sleeping (when we are most vulnerable) at home – in our bedroom or living room.

We would be appalled to even consider the idea of sleeping in public places. That’s OK in camp-outs and beaches and bus terminals, where such behavior is expected, we say to ourselves, but not in the city’s streets, parks and other pedestrian places. That, we say, is for beggars and homeless people.

Yet sleeping outdoors is one of the most natural and exhilarating modes of rest, as every hunter or camper knows. Filipino peasants maintain a semi-open hut in their distant fields or swidden farms, where they can rest, cook lunch, and escape the intense midday heat, even stay overnight. In small towns, people would indulge in siestas in the plaza or churchyard, perhaps underneath a century-old banyan or acacia tree.

In the big city, however, it’s different. If you sleep in a public place, you may get your butt kicked by a security guard for loitering or arrested by the police for vagrancy. Worse, you could get mugged or molested. Not to mention the many vagaries of drenching rain, scorching sun, and insect bites.

Now, please disabuse yourself of the myth that only beggars and homeless people need to sleep in city streets. For many commuters, working or studying away from home much of the time creates a need for accessible public places where one can take a quick nap or even stay overnight if necessary.

In commercial districts – whether of a Third World urban center like Metro Manila or Baguio or a cosmopolitan behemoth like New York – the streets overflow with informal business the whole day and deep into the night: vendors plying their wares, market traders unloading farm produce from the outlying areas, applicants looking for work and a place to stay – not to mention homeless people scrounging for their means of daily survival.

In short, people who find themselves in the big city and away from home would want to catch a wink any time and any place they could. For most of them, renting a room is too expensive. The only solution is for the city to offer them fairly safe and comfortable, but free, public places for sleeping.

Decades ago, when Philippine life was much simpler, ordinary people could still freely and safely sleep on benches in city parks and plazas, in bus terminals and hospital lobbies, inside churches and funeral parlors, night after night after night, without encountering much danger and disturbance.

I had a writer-friend who told me that in the late 1970’s, he could still sleep among the vendors of Avenida Rizal for seven straight nights – he was writing about homeless people – and not worry about getting mugged or hauled into the police precinct.

Some artist-friends who had money also recalled that, before ticket prices became prohibitive, they sometimes bought first-class moviehouse tickets and slept away stifling summer afternoons in cushioned, air-conditioned comfort.

Nowadays, however, while there are more and more street people, their sleeping options are getting fewer and fewer. It has become a fad among city mayors and other urban administrators to imitate the harsh policies of Singapore dictator Lee Kuan Yew and his successors. The dregs of society – whether garbage, stray animals, or impoverished humans – must be swept off the streets for the good of all.

The longest-term solution should of course be sought in overhauling our socio-economic system, so that poverty and government neglect of basic services – which breed homelessness, unstable homes and street crime – are finally eradicated. These are the key factors that force people to live in the streets despite harsh conditions.

At the same time, there must also be a continuous struggle against ultra-conservative attitudes. Such values belittle people who live, loiter and sleep in the streets as social scum – nothing more than criminals, prostitutes and vagrants who must be swept off and kept away.

Rather, a progressive city planner or administrator must recognize the need for people to live in the streets, and must at least provide them with many places where they can do so in relative safety, shelter and comfort.
Such places could be in public parks (yes, even in cemeteries), beside public structures (yes, even under bridges and flyovers), around hospitals, schools and other public buildings, in reserved corners of public markets, even in some quiet and tree-shaded sidestreet corner.

Private service-oriented institutions like churches, radio-TV stations, transport firms, and malls should do the same. Isn’t it ironic that a real estate firm could build a giant mall with an enormous multi-storied garage so that its customers can park their gorgeous cars – and yet wince at the idea of giving free sleeping space for the weary poor who simply want to lie down and rest for a while?

If I were a city mayor or urban administrator, I'd keep the city environment filled with ample benches and raised pavements, either stand-alone or built into flowerbox seats, low walls or building alcoves. I'd make these places relatively sheltered by trees or sturdy awnings, away from wind and rain, and lighted at night. I'd have simple stoves or fireplaces set up so that the street people can at least warm their food with scrap fuel on cold or rainy nights.

If more and more people begin to frequent these places, then so much the better because muggers and molesters are less likely to attack in the middle of a crowd.

Again, to emphasize, all these will be utopian dreams if we do not overhaul society. But continue to dream we must, until that time when people no longer feel any fear or shame in going to sleep in public when they need or want to.



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Comments

  • queenparanoia said on Jan 13, 2007....

    dude... parang naweirdohan ako sa iyo. english kasi ang post mo. tapos ang lalim.

    cool...

    anyway i totally agree with you. i admit i'm one of the people who sometimes judge people who sleeps in streets. not knowing the reason behind this, i just judge them. which is totally wrong and i'm sorry for ir.

    being a student, sleeping is a pleasure for me. lalo na ngayon na may insomia ako. but i have slept in public transportiona before. like buses and jeepneys. sarap kasi matulog sa isang moving vehicle. kakatakot lang minsan kasi baka masnatch ang cell phone.

    hay... sarap sana matulog kung katabi ay gwapo at malaki......

    ang unan!!! hehehehehe sama ng isip mo!

    keep on blogging!!!

  • paidinblood said on Jan 13, 2007....
    Does sleeping in class count? :D

    I could care less about sleeping in public.  Here's a list on the times when I slept in public:

    1. high school graduation practice
    2. most of my high school math classes
    3. some of my college math classes
    4. one certain English in high school where I answered correctly after just waking up
    5. Physics class (high school and college)
    6. at jeeps (today I woke up with some woman leaning on me...*my egotistical self hopes she was attracted* does that count as molesting? :D )

    I guess I was counting on the fact that I've a unusually high learning and thinking capacity that I've slept during class... or maybe I'm just a "special" person. LOL

    Of course, my rudimentary verbiage pales in comparison with yours.

    Much Respect,
    paidinBlood
  • mr_right14 said on Jan 13, 2007....

    hey queen...talaga naman!
    Pwede namang gawing unan yun ah! Lalo na kung malaki at mataba. Pero masakit sa ulo kapag matigas at baka magkabukol ka pa sa sobrang tigas.

    Haaaayy
    Poverty issues.
    Hindi na mawawala yan.
    Sometimes their parents din naman ang problema.
    Anak ng anak, napakairesponsable naman.
    Hindi pa naman uso tiktik sa syudad! puro LickLick lang
    Tapos kapag hirap na hirap, parang nakangangang naghihintay na bumagsak ang bayabas na biyaya ng gobyerno.

    Basta sakin, be responsible!
    Yun lang ang kailangan, aayos buhay natin.
    Though they are the ones to blame (some of them) eh kailangang tulungan pa din.

    Matulog sa bus, train or any PUV?
    Haaay matulog ka at paggising mo nanakawan ka na.
    Marami na kong experiences though hindi pa naman ako naisnatchan or nanakawan at maholdap pero laging may nagtatangkang mangdukot ng mga gamit ko.
    Kaso kailangan pa nilang magtraining, ang tatanga nila!
    Isang beses may dumudukot ng wallet ko eh long wallet.
    Kaya nilang kuhain agad dahil nakausli yung dulo pero subukan nilang hugutin, ramdam na ramdam ko ang unti unti nilang pagkuha sa wallet ko.
    Nauupuan ko kasi ang wallet ko eh. Kaya long wallet ang gusto ko.

    Meron naman jan ang lakas ng pangamoy, aba pocket pc pa ang gusto.
    Tinakpan ko nga ng bag ko ang bulsa ko at patagong inilipat sa kabilang bulsa.
    Tanga! Maya maya eh ramdam ko na pumasok ang kamay sa bulsa ko.
    Di ko alam kung bading yun at balak rin yatang dukutin si Heneral Manoy.

  • queenparanoia said on Jan 13, 2007....

    paidinblood: hahahaha i sleep in classes too! buti na lang mabait prof ko!

    mr_right14: hahahahaha oo nga no pwede palang gawing unan. whahahaha may manash na gusto dukutin si manoy!!! LOL!!!

  • Ormocanon said on Jan 13, 2007....
    Alam mo 'tol, mas may dating sa akin ang mga sinulat mo sa tagalog. However, this post is a welcome change, basically ...oi napa-basically tuloy ako, because your thoughts would be  appreciated by a wider audience. ie, like those who don't understand a word of tagalog.
  • mr_right14 said on Jan 14, 2007....
    Mahalin natin ang sariling WIKA!!!
  • drifting_traveller said on Jan 14, 2007....
    Hi tao.. your observation is interesting and i would like to put my 2 cents in it.
     
    It is not an unusual site to sleep in parks here. You will find a lot of employees on their lunch break bathing in the sun and lying on the grass getting a snooze.
     
    I guess to be able to sleep in a public place requires a lot of prerequisites which are not really available in the Philippines
     
    1) security - sa tin halos yapusin mo na nga ang bag mo pag naglalakad ka or nasa PUV, nasasalisihan ka pa. how much more yung ala kang malay? people would not take that risk unless di na makalakad sa kalsingan or nahilo for some reason.
    2) there is not a lot of public places available na malinis enough para makatulog ka ng mahimbing. only if one is forced to kaya natutulog sa labas. daming ligaw na aso, pusa, daga, ipis.. and when you sleep in public places you can expect to commune with these folks.
    3) and thirdly, i think that the politicians and those who govern think of it the least. we filipinos do not value the environment as much as we should. what we put in is what we will get back from it. Since we dont put anything to get a better environment/cleaner air,water streets.. what would we expect to get back in return? nothing really..
     
    i guess sleeping in public places is still very far off sa philippines.. getting a roof over one's head is really what Filipinos strive for.
     
     
  • Lioness said on Jan 14, 2007....
    I've had my share of sleeping in public years back. It was a long trip from Baguio to Manila, we arrived around 2 am, had an appointment at 8 am. So to cut expenses, we (mom and I) had to sleep in one of the benches in the terminal. It wasn't very comfortable, but the short nap was more than enough to recharge. Those were the days. Nowadays, as tao pointed out, it is much different. Even in ships, if you forget to hide your slippers or shoes, it gets lost. So if you are thinking of taking a nap, make sure that your belongings are safely secured. drifting_traveller (a sailor??) says the disadvantages vividly.

    Hmmm... masubukan ko ngang mandukot minsan.. ano kaya kung butas na bulsa yung mapasok ko?? hahahha..

  • tao said on Jan 17, 2007....
    balikan ko uli isa-isa mga koments nyo bukas ha? kasi tawag na ko ng nanay ko, inom muna daw ng vitamins, tsaka maaga pa test namin bukas. sana top ako sa araling panlipunan. :-p o pano mga tol, bukas uli ng gabi ha? pramis.

  • Lioness said on Jan 17, 2007....
    Grabe na yan ha, delaying tactics? Hehehe... Hope you pass the exams tao.. cya.

    ps. paki-kiss sa yo, este sa nanay mo. LOL
  • tao said on Jan 18, 2007....
    oke oke oke. e2 na po mga koment ko. palibhasa sa eynglis ko sinulat, subok ko naman sa noypi sagutin mga koment nyo. oks ba mga tol?

    reyna: alam nating lahat na oks lang matulog sa mga dyip, bus atbp, sa 2 kondisyon: (1) bawal tulo laway, at (2) payag magsilbing unan ang katabing pogi (kung babae ka) o preti wuman (kung lalaki ka).

    bayad-dugo: alam din natin lahat na oks lang matulog sa loob ng klasrum, muli, sa 2 kondisyon: (1) pag walang klase dun, at (2) pag hindi sa sahig. bawal din na katabi mo syota mo, kasi hindi tulog ang gagawin nyo sa loob ng klasrum.

    pareng kanan14: para di ako madukutan habang tulog sa loob ng dyip o bus, palagi ako me dalang bakpak. lahat dun ko lagay--pitaka, relo, celfon, atbp--tapos akap-akap ko bakpak habang natutulog. yun na rin unan ko.

    lakbay-lagalag: tama ka jan tol. kaya nga sa huling paragrap e sinulat ko na balewalang pangarap lang lahat yan kung di natin aanuhin ang kwan, este, ayusing mabuti ang takbo ng ating lipunan.

    mareng leona: isa yan sa pinakamasarap na pakiramdam. di mo natatanong mare, tiga-gyobags koaks. kaya mejo sanay matulog sa terminal kung alanganing oras ang byahe. at para tyak na walang sasalisi sa laman ng akap-akap kong bakpak, yung isang kamay ko e nakahawak sa granada. pati sekyu takot lumapit saken. hahaha jok jok jok.

    ormocanon: mejo kaasar nga pare, biruin mo, kung kelan ako nag-eynglis, wala naman nagkoment na porenjer. bad trip tol. di bale. susulat ako ng isang blog talagang di nila matitiis na di pansinin. abangan!

    o pano mga tol. tuloy lang nyo huntahan nyo kahit wala ako ha.

  • Lioness said on Jan 19, 2007....
    hehehe.. magandang ideya yang bakpak pareng tao...naimbag a malem kenka! =) Dun ako lumaki (ay, di pa pala ako lumalaki) eh, until high school. Pero now, alaws na, umeskapo na kami at napadpad dito sa kinaroroonan ko now. (andami ko yatang now)LOL
  • kruuyai said on Jan 19, 2007....
    tagging again, so I can come back and give this the attention it deserves.  You have some awesome posts up here, tao.... and I can see that I'm going to have to learn yet another language if I'm to keep up!  :)
  • tao said on Jan 19, 2007....
    thank you ms. kruuyai ma'am. you are a foreign language teacher. you are fluent in spanish. it should be easy to learn tagalog or filipino. many of our words are spanish loan words. like, ola amiga. como esta. que hora es?

    mareng leonaaaaaaaaaaaa ijay ka gayam a dimmakel? uray nu bassit ka inggana itatta inya hahahahahaha. san ka nag-hayskul? teka hulaan ko... slu girls hi? ub hi? city hi? ako dun lang sa ba-hai. kinder2 lang inabot ko. hehehe.

    o di ba mga tol? pweydi din pala ako makipag-eynglis?
  • mr_right14 said on Jan 20, 2007....
    Lioness san ka? Sa SLU?
    We held a concert there way back in December of 1996.
    We stayed dun sa dorm for a week, sa skul nyo rin.
    Also nung may volleyball competition dyan sa BCF.
    That was July 2001. Naka 3rd nga lang kami.
    Dun kami nagtraining and nagstay sa Loakan.
    Yung mga houses (parang rest house) sa tabi ng airport and right beside the runway.
    Others mga vacation and strolling lang and no event.
     
    May experiences din ako dyan.
    Nung sumali kami sa competition dyan sa BCF.
    May nakilala kaming mga girls, yun syempre parang celebrity ek-ek.
    Pero bawal samin and hindi kami pinapayagan maki-hangout kundi gulpi kami sa training.
    Set aside daw muna lahat and focus sa training and competition.
    So nagkakilala kami and medyo txt-txt dyan, twag dito.
    After the competition, syempre gala ng konti then uwian na.
    On our last night, these girls invited us to have a small party at their house.
    We told our coach na hindi na kami sasabay sa pag-uwi and will report na lang sa training.
    So that night, punta kami sa haus and nandun nga yung magkakabarkada.
    Inuman kami and that was the first time I've tasted a strawberry wine.
    Sarap din pero medyo kulang sa aging and some process to be made.
    Ok, these girls, they're all wild.
    It was like a strip show, pero kahit kami nagstrip din wahaha!
    5 lang kami then 7 girls.
    Pasa dito, pasa don.
    Syempre hindi mawawala yung para kay manoy!
    May solo kong girl then nakihati din sa iba.
    Sarap parang strawberry!
    Dun din kami natulog and of those 7, 3 of them will be going to Manila.
    So sabay sabay na paguwi.
    But to tell you, of these 3? Nakupo?
    Buti na lang mabait, anak ng mga sindikato.
    Mga pulitiko, na may pinatatakbong pasugalan, drug lord, smugglers.
    Kaya pala ganun ka-sosyal, pero thrilling yung night na yun.
    Game na game and talagang labanan kung sino magaling.
    Hindi sayang ang pagod ko, hindi sayang ang 5 jolts na binigay ko sa kanila.
    They were all satisfying!
    Nagkahiwa hiwalay kami dun sa bandang quezon ave.
    Kaming mga players diretso sa skul and reporting for duty.
    Hayun wala naman sa mga girls yung nangyari.
    It was all for fun and games.
    We had fun and they enjoyed our company.
    Basta masarap ang girls ng baguio!
    Since malamig dun, yun siguro pampainit nila kaya masasarap at bihasa sila!
    Specially their boobies and clitoris, sweet as the strawberries!
  • Lioness said on Jan 21, 2007....
    Wen pareng tao, idjayak nga dimmakkel. Haha... SLP ak nga nagadal ta assideg di balay me...ay balay ni lolak gayam.. Ikaw talaga, ever humble, sabihin mo nang elementary grad ka, gaya ko! =)

    Mr_right, sa annex lang me ng SLU noh..co-ed yun. Bilib na talaga ako sa yo, sobrang papable ka nga!!! Kahit saan, kahit kelan, talagang di nawawalan ng excitement sa life ha? Pero I agree, marami ring beautiful girls dun, kahit balot na balot, sexy. LOL Strawberry wine?? Gotta taste that pa.. pero did you know that strawberries are aphrodisiacs daw?? hmmmm... kaya ka siguro nasasarapan sa mga girls dun! hehehehe... Pareng tao, wat can you say??
  • tao said on Jan 22, 2007....
    mareng leona: slp - ung sa pacdal yan di ba? ako sa mla na born n bred pero bumalik todits matapos ako iluwa ng kolehyo bwahahahahaha. todits kse dami pamili ko e. as in pamili #1, pamili #2, pamili #3 bwahahaha.

    pareng kanan14: ows talaga, dami ka na pala natikman na tiga-gyobags? inggit to det naman ako tol. ako din, dami din ako natikman, teka, maisa-isa nga... ube jam, peanut brittle, strawberi jam, benguet kape, longganisa ni alabanza, papaya ni aling mina... o di ba dami nun? hehehe.

  • Lioness said on Jan 22, 2007....
    Yup pareng tao, yung sa pacdal. Sa Rizal me nag-elementary. Which part ka naman diyan? Tagal na me di nakauwi, the last time was about 3 years ago, a week nga lang. Anyway, it's good nakabalik ka sa pamilies mo na andami, maginaw, kaya the more the merrier. LOL
  • tao said on Jan 23, 2007....
    taas lang kami ng guisad mareng leona. pamili #1 - utol ko at pamilya nya. pamili #2 - isa pang utol ko at pamilya nya. pamili #3 - pinsan ko at pamilya nya. bwahahaha. di gano maginaw ngayon, minsan lang umabot ng 12 digri.

  • kruuyai said on Jan 23, 2007....
    hey, tao.. you've done your homework!  I could probably learn tagalog if I put my mind to it.  I'd always heard that it was similar to spanish, but except for the examples you gave, I don't see much that looks too familiar.  Did I notice a "ka" at the end of some of the sentences?  Like the polite particle that Thai women put at the end of their sentences?  Anyway, great post.  I have never been to the Phillipines, but I have some experience with sleeping in public.  Last summer in Oslo, I had to check out of my hostel in the morning and hang around in the city to catch a 10pm bus out of town.  I stowed my backpack in a bus terminal locker and when I got tired, I went to one of the big parks, laid out a cloth and went to sleep amid the other suntanners.  I felt fairly safe among so many other sleeping people.  Other than that, the only public sleeping I can remember doing was at Stansted Airport in London a couple of times.
     
    In Mexico, during the ferias, a lot of campesinos come to town for several days at a time, and hotels are out of the question, financially, so they just lay out a blanket or piece of cardboard on the pavement under the arcades of the palacio municipal.  This is condoned by the officials, and they even have a police presence, so people can feel safe (although in Mexico, I usually worried more about the police than anyone else).
     
    In Thailand, I slept on temple floors as part of a group, but I think the temples are  generally open to anyone who wants to sleep there.  At least that's the impression I got. 
     
    On the other hand, in England, at the bus stations, they now have swiveling benches that you can't even really sit on, much less lie down on.   You just have to sort of lean your butt on them and keep your feet planted firmly on the ground.  And in Poland, I recently had a 5 hour layover between trains, and the train station in Katowice, which had probably about a hundred shops and some restaurants, didn't even have a place where I could sit down and read a book while I waited unless I wanted to go into a restaurant and spend some money.
  • mr_right14 said on Jan 23, 2007....

    Kruuyai
    Hi there!
    Yup spanish and Tagalog were almost alike.
    In our history, we've been conquered by the Spaniards that's why some of our languages are pretty Spanish.

    The word "ka"
    In Japanese, "ka" at the end of their sentences means a polite question.
    Example:
    Anata wa desu ka?
    This means:
    You are?
    Anata = You
    wa = is, are

    Wow, you've been to different countries!

  • tao said on Jan 24, 2007....
    ms. kruuyai: i think you will not find it hard to learn filipino once you get the hang of its syntax, maybe the most common 200 native words, their most common inflections, and the pattern of how spanish and english loanwords are converted.

    you travel a lot, so you easily see the need for public sleeping places. i haven't travelled outside the philippines except on two short trips. i see this concern as not just for travellers, but for an alternative lifestyle.

    pareng kanan14: tol ayos din eynglis mo a. pati japanese bosing. teka subukan ko din maghapones: anoto nasa desku? anime tsaka hentai? kami kase bakayeru. o di ba?

  • mr_right14 said on Jan 24, 2007....

    Huh? di ko napansin mali grammar ko dun!

    Waaaaa! Kahiya!

    Pasensya na, puslit lang kasi kanina yun.

    Dami work and nagmadaling nagtype.

    Hahaha.

    Ngayon heto on the way na pauwi hehehe

    Trapik pa! Whew! (punas pawis)

  • kruuyai said on Jan 24, 2007....

    mr. right:  thanks for the lesson!

    tao: I like the idea very much.  I think, not only in the Phillipines, but in most countries, the people have lost a sense of belonging to the land and of the land (however developed it may be) belonging to them.  Mother Earth is here for us.

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