For La Sallians, crossing the road alone might just be one of the hardest skills to learn.
On July 18, a post from the DLSU Freedom Wall on Facebook, which garnered over 15,000 reactions, has been a source for laughs, claiming that “1 out of 3 Lasallians don’t know how to cross the road without kuya guard.”
De La Salle University is situated along the busy Taft Avenue in Manila, and with the traction that the post is getting, we suppose that this cars-versus-people problem—”Patintero (Taft Version)”—appears to be a collective experience for students, hence the need for a security guard zooming vehicles and help them cross the road.
The comments in the post ranged from people sharing their “tawid Taft” encounters to tagging their friends who, we can only guess, have yet to learn how to cross roads independently to thanking the “kuya guards” who are always of service.
While this may seem like a laughable meme, it is worth noting that the role of security guards especially in an environment like Taft Avenue is highly essential. Given that it is a university zone and a lot of condominiums where students reside are situated around it, security guards are crucial to preserve the safety and welfare of students.
However, this apparent lack of a practical skill such as crossing the street independently must serve as a point of improvement not just for Lasallians but also for everyone. Not at all the time can we expect a security guard to aid us in getting to the other side of the road, especially in busy commercial areas.
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