The driver, the car owner, and a polluting engine

This morning I had to bring our suit cases and other stuff down to my car as it was time to leave our AirB&B apartment in One Rockwell, Manila. What I saw was just one of these normal daily procedures…

A noisy motor bike entered the basement parking and stopped in front of a van. The bike driver opened the car, started the car’s engine and left with his bike to get it parked nearby. This is normal procedure as a driver never knows when the car owner, here called the boss, wants to be picked up. If it is too hot inside a car the boss will not be happy. Therefore, this procedure.

After 20 minutes, as I came back to bring more stuff to our car, the driver was at least close to the car but the engine still running.

Like in all more up-scale buildings there is an armada of guards but nobody cares about regulations. Leaving a car engine running without anybody in side is prohibited and leaving an engine running while waiting in a basement parking is also prohibited. More important is personal comfort and what the boss wants as the later pays the salary. That a car pollutes and disturbs others is way beyond imagination.

Manila, December 2015.